Regulation of hamster hepatic microsomal triglyceride transfer protein mRNA levels by dietary fats.

The effect of dietary fat on hepatic microsomal triglyceride transfer protein(MTP) large subunit mRNA levels in the hamster was examined. Increasing the dietary fat concentration from 11.7 energy % to 46.8 energy % caused a 60% increase in hepatic MTP mRNA; this increase was shown to be dose-dependent (r = 0.688 p = 0.0023). MTP mRNA levels correlated significantly with several plasma lipoprotein cholesterol parameters. No significant relationship was observed between MTP mRNA and either plasma or VLDL triglyceride. The nature of the dietary fatty acids also influenced MTP mRNA levels, with trimyristin and tripalmitin enriched diets significantly elevating MTP mRNA relative to diets enriched in triolein and trilinolein.