[Extraction of cholesterol from biological membranes with positively charged micelles of phosphatidylcholine].

The content of cholesterol in red cell and platelet membranes was lowered in rabbits with experimental atherosclerosis after intravenous injection of positively charged micelles of soybean phosphatidylcholine. That lowering was accompanied by a reduction in membrane microviscosity, rise of the activity of Na,K- and Ca-ATPases of red cells, and a decrease in the rate of the ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Injection of phosphatidylcholine gave rise to an increase in the blood serum content of phospholipids and cholesterol in high density lipoprotein fractions, to a reduction in the content of triglycerides and the atherogenicity index, as well as to the lowering of the microviscosity of high density lipoproteins. The aortal area affected by atherosclerotic lesions was 2 times less in the group of animals given phosphatidylcholine.