A new in vitro method for the simultaneous evaluation of cholesteryl ester exchange and mass transfer between HDL and apoB-containing lipoprotein subspecies. Identification of preferential cholesteryl ester acceptors in human plasma.

To date, several methods have been developed to determine the activity of plasma lipid transfer proteins. These methods have largely involved the addition of the transfer protein in question to labeled substrates, followed by prolonged incubation (4 to 18 hours) and subsequent evaluation of the radioactivity transferred to precipitated low-density lipoprotein (LDL). While adequate for determining the activity of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), these methods generally do not take into account the composition or levels of lipoproteins present within a given individual plasma because pools of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) are labeled and used for the transfer experiments. Both the direction and the extent of lipid transfer are dependent on the composition and relative abundance of both donor and acceptor particles as well as the activity of the lipid transfer protein(s). Here we describe a new method for the determination of the capacity of plasma samples to facilitate cholesteryl ester transfer from HDL to LDL and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), a method that has several advantages. First, the subject's HDL is labeled and used for transfer. Second, the labeled HDL, in a quantity equivalent to 1% of the plasma HDL mass, is added to the subject's plasma, and therefore the relative abundance of both donor and acceptor particles is preserved at their physiological levels. Third, both cholesteryl ester mass and radioactivity are determined, allowing the net mass transfer of cholesteryl ester and cholesteryl ester exchange to be quantified separately.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)