Reverse cholesterol transport from fibroblasts to high density lipoproteins: computer solutions of a kinetic model.

A model for cholesterol balance between fibroblasts and high density lipoproteins which includes first steps in cholesterol egress is proposed. Kinetic solutions of this model, obtained by digital computer integration of associated differential equations, showed that 15-fold variations in high density lipoprotein levels might be expected to cause less than 8% change in cell cholesterol and twofold variations in lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity might be expected to cause less than 10% change in cell cholesterol. These theoretical calculations are limited by deficiencies in the model. However, they can be used as adjuncts to direct experiment to evaluate the hypothesis that high density lipoproteins and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase are involved in cholesterol removal from peripheral cells.