Dietary modifications of low-density lipoprotein fatty acids in humans: their effect on low-density lipoprotein-fibroblast interactions.

The chemical composition and metabolism of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) in a population of Benedictine nuns were studied after 5-month periods during which the predominant dietary fats were sunflower oil, fluid of palm, peanut oil, milk fats, low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) oil, corn oil, olive oil, soybean oil. The population was divided into three groups. The control group (C) included 12 subjects selected at random by taking 2 subjects per age pool among those with plasma cholesterol less than 230 mg/dl. Groups H1 and H2 were selected in the same way among those with plasma cholesterol less than 230 mg/dl. Groups H1 and H2 comprised 6 subjects and differed from each other in the amount of plasma cholesteryl esters, i.e., below and above the mean value of group C. Changes in LDL composition, according to the dietary fat, were associated with changes in LDL catabolism studied in fibroblast cultures, but no significant differences were found between the three groups.