Hypertriglyceridemia in Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits was associated with increased production and reduced catabolism of very-low-density lipoproteins.

Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit is an animal model for human familial hypercholesterolemia. Recently, we segregated a new mutant of WHHL rabbits with plasma levels of triglycerides (TG) >500 mg/dl (designated as TGH-WHHL). To investigate the underlying mechanisms for hypertriglyceridemia, we compared TGH-WHHL with WHHL rabbits with lower plasma TG levels (<250 mg/dl, designated as TGL-WHHL). A Triton WR-1339 injection experiment revealed that TGH-WHHL rabbits had increased secretion and decreased clearance of TG-rich lipoproteins. Furthermore, TGH-WHHL rabbits had lower a post-heparin activity of lipoprotein lipase and a higher cholesterol ester transfer protein activity than TGL-WHHL rabbits. Cultured hepatocytes isolated from TGH-WHHL rabbits showed a higher secretion rate of TG and cholesterol than those of TGL-WHHL rabbits. In addition, TGH-WHHL rabbits exhibited marked insulin resistance. These data suggest that hypertriglyceridemia exhibited by WHHL rabbits is caused by both increased production and impaired catabolism of TG-rich lipoproteins and associated with insulin resistance.