Variations of hepatic dolichols during rat development.

The content and the percent distribution of dolichol and dolichyl phosphate homologues were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography in perinatal rat livers. Short dolichol chains and no dolichyl phosphate are detectable in the liver at foetal stages; dolichol content progressively increases during liver development. A good correlation is observable between the changes of the dolichol, dolichyl phosphate and the activity of dolichyl-phosphate phosphatase.