Effect of the stress of unilateral adrenalectomy on the depletion of individual cholesteryl esters in the rat adrenal.

Normal rats were subjected to unilateral adrenalectomy and were killed 3 hr later. The concentration and composition of the cholesteryl esters in adrenals removed at operation and after death were compared. The esterified cholesterol concentration was lower in the adrenals obtained 3 hr after surgery. Cholesteryl arachidonate decreased in concentration significantly more than any other ester, followed in order of magnitude by linoleate and oleate. The cholesteryl ester concentration of adrenals removed from sham-operated rats 3 hr after surgery was also greatly reduced. On the basis of comparison with other work on the hydrolysis of cholesteryl esters by adrenal homogenates, it is concluded that the apparent selectivity in depletion of cholesteryl esters is due to differences in their rates of hydrolysis.