Fat intake and clofibrate administration have interrelated effects on liver cholesterol concentration and serum...

Rats were fed for 15 d purified diets with different amounts of coconut fat, and with or without clofibrate. Fat was added at the expense of an isoenergetic amount of glucose. The hypolipidemic action of clofibrate was not influenced by the amount of fat in the diet. Clofibrate did not affect liver cholesterol concentration in rats fed the low fat diet, but it counteracted the rise in liver cholesterol seen in rats fed the high fat diet. This could relate to the observed raised intestinal clofibrate-hydrolyzing activity of rats fed the high fat diet, because hydrolysis of clofibrate gives rise to its biologically active form. In rats fed the low fat diet, but not in those fed the high fat diet, clofibrate raised the activity of serum esterase-1, which (unlike esterase-2) does not hydrolyze clofibrate. Possibly, the dramatic stimulatory effect of fat feeding on serum esterase-1 activity had overruled any influence of clofibrate. Clofibrate elevated serum butyryl cholinesterase activity, with this effect being amplified by fat feeding. High levels of dietary fat in the absence of dietary clofibrate did not alter serum butyryl cholinesterase activity. Clofibrate did not change butyryl cholinesterase and esterase-1 activities in small intestine. The high fat diet caused slightly higher levels of butyryl cholinesterase activity in small intestine, but markedly raised intestinal esterase-1 activity. This study shows that certain effects of clofibrate and a high fat diet are interrelated.