The effect of local anesthetics on arterial lipid metabolism. Inhibition of sterol esterification in vitro.

The local anesthetics lidocaine, tetracaine, benzocaine and dibucaine were found to inhibit sterol esterification by acylCoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT, EC 2.3.1.26) in the microsomal fraction isolated from rabbit aortas. In arterial microsomes, the incorporation of [14C]oleoylCoA into [14C]steryl esters was inhibited in a dose-dependent way by the anesthetics over the concentration range 0.25-5.0 mM. The potency of inhibition was dibucaine greater than benzocaine greater than tetracaine greater than lidocaine greater than procaine with inhibition of about 85% occurring with 0.25 mM dibucaine. Sterol esterification to [14C]oleic acid was also inhibited by the anesthetics in intact aortic tissue from the rabbit, dog, and rat. A detailed study of the effects of 5 mM lidocaine on lipid biosynthesis in the rabbit aorta in vitro revealed that lidocaine not only inhibited sterol esterification to [14C]oleate but stimulated [14C]oleate incorporation into glycerides.