In vivo cholesterol synthesis by the rat digestive tract. I. A topological study.

Rats were fed a semi-purified diet containing 0.5% cholesterol; cholesterogenesis was measured in vivo 70 min after [1-14C]-acetate or tritiated water was incorporated into the gastrointestinal tract sterols. The results were qualitatively similar with the two precursors. Cholesterol synthesis was preponderant in the small intestine and mainly occurred in its mucosa with a decreasing biosynthetic gradient from the duodenum to the distal ileum. The gradient of cholesterogenesis decreased from the crypt cells to the apical cells in all segments of the intestine studied.