Plasma decay of chylomicron remnants is not affected by heparin-stimulated plasma lipolytic activity in normal fasting man.

In an earlier study it was shown that retinyl palmitate appeared to be a satisfactory label for the core of chylomicrons and their remnants. When chylomicrons were endogenously labeled with retinyl palmitate and pulse-injected into healthy donors, retinyl palmitate was cleared from plasma by a first order process. Its fractional decay constant was very similar to the fractional catabolic rate of VLDL triglycerides, a lipoprotein lipase-dependent process, and 2-3 times slower than hepatic chylomicron remnant uptake in experimental animals. We, therefore, investigated whether plasma clearance of retinyl palmitate-labeled chylomicrons is accelerated by enhanced plasma triglyceride hydrolysis produced by heparin administration. Five healthy subjects took retinyl palmitate by mouth and 5-6 hr later two units of plasma were obtained by plasma-pheresis. After storage for 42 hr, the units were pooled and separated into two equal volumes. The first half was injected into the donor and plasma retinyl palmitate and chylomicron triglyceride were measured for 3.5 hr (control study). Heparin was then given intravenously as a bolus followed by an infusion for 7 hr. A second retinyl palmitate clearance (postheparin study) was performed during the heparin infusion. Plasma lipolytic activity and retinyl palmitate and chylomicron triglyceride concentrations were measured serially. Total plasma lipolytic activity and hepatic triglyceride lipase activity were increased approximately 500-fold during postheparin studies, enhancing triglyceride decay 2.5- to 3-fold. Retinyl palmitate plasma decay, however, was unaffected. Retinyl palmitate plasma decay was a biexponential concentration-dependent function in eighty of ten pre- and postheparin studies with the first, rapid exponential accounting for 90 +/- 4% of total plasma retinyl palmitate decay.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)