Effect of gemfibrozil on centrifugal behavior of rat peroxisomes and activities of peroxisomal enzymes involved in lipid metabolism.

The effect of gemfibrozil, and analogue of clofibric acid, on the centrifugal behavior of peroxisomes and activity of peroxisomal enzymes involved in lipid metabolism was studied. Rats were fed chow containing 0.2% gemfibrozil for 2 weeks. Nycodenz gradient centrifugation of the light mitochondrial fraction revealed that peroxisomes of gemfibrozil-treated rats were concentrated in fractions of higher density compared with control rats. The activity of fatty acyl-CoA oxidase, crotonase, beta-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, and thiolase (individual enzymes of the peroxisomal fatty acid beta-oxidation system) were enhanced 9.6, 2.3, 3.4 and 9.1 times respectively compared with controls, by treatment. The hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase (rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol synthesis) activity of peroxisomes and microsomes was greatly increased by in vivo treatment with gemfibrozil, but was decreased by addition of the agent to the assay mixture of the enzyme. Gemfibrozil directly inhibited the reductase activity and did so at a lower concentration than clofibric acid. Peroxisomal reductase was more resistant to damage by the agent than the microsomal enzyme. The HMG-CoA reductase activity of peroxisomes and microsomes of hyperlipidemic rats was also increased by in vivo treatment with gemfibrozil, whereas the serum cholesterol level was hardly changed. These results indicate that the effect of gemfibrozil differs from that of clofibric acid, the main difference being the effect on HMG-CoA reductase. Gemfibrozil increased reductase activity in vivo, unlike clofibric acid, but inhibited the enzyme in vitro to a greater extent than clofibric acid.