Intestinal absorption of cholesterol autoxidation products in the rat
Fornas, E.; Martínez-Sales, V.; Camañas, A.; Báguena, J.
Archivos de Farmacologia Y Toxicologia 10(3): 175-182
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0304-8616 PMID: 6532324 Document Number: 241842
[14C]Cholesterol was autoxidized in air, and the resulting products were fractionated by thin layer chromatography. These fractions (1 of which was cholesterol) were administered orally to 3 rat groups. Animals were continuously fed for 24 h with stock chow impregnated with the corresponding fraction of labelled products. No other lipids were added. The animals were killed to observe the penetration of the labeled compounds through the intestinal wall. The presence of labeled products was investigated in the thoracic arch, descending aorta, liver, platelet-poor plasma and platelets. Radioactivity was found in all the studied tissues and in all animals fed with the different fractions derived from the autoxidized radioactive cholesterol, indicating that these compounds or their metabolites traverse the intestinal wall, enter the lipid transport system and become fixed in the studied tissues. Compounds of this kind found in atheromata are possibly of external origin, and their toxic effects can be a direct action of those components introduced into the body through the digestive system.