The development and alterations of normal serum lipid pattern in the course of ageing in male and female rabbits
Lózsa, A.; Kereszti, Z.; Berencsi, G.
Acta Physiologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 42(1): 12-23
1972
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-6756 PMID: 4664391 Document Number: 50383
Changes in serum lipid pattern of rabbits of 3 different strains (see reference below) from the age of 2 months to 4 years was studied by means of thin-layer chromatography. Serum total lipid of rabbits 2 months old was significantly higher than that of adult animals and showed no sex difference. Differentiation was evident during the 4th month with onset of sexual maturation; in adult animals 10 months old serum cholesterol ester, free cholesterol and phospholipid were twice as high in female as in male rabbits. No significant sex difference in triglyceride and free fatty acid was seen. All the changes were associated with considerable seasonal fluctuations. Although serum total lipid was twice as high in adult females as in males there was little difference in lipid composition between the sexes except that cholesterol was higher and triglyceride and free fatty acid were lower in females than in males. The lipid fractions changed slowly between the ages of 1 and 4 years; ageing was accompanied by an increase in cholesterol ester and a decrease in triglyceride.