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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Enrichment of Mammalian Tissues and Xenopus Oocytes with Cholesterol
Published on: March 25, 2020
Glucose and galactose regulate intestinal absorption of cholesterol
Barbara Play1, Séverine Salvini, Ziad Haikal
1UMR-U 476--INSERM (Human Nutrition and Lipids, National Institute for Health and Medical Research), Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerrannée, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France.
Abstract:
A dose-dependent increase in cholesterol absorption was induced by glucose addition (0-75 mM) to the apical medium of TC7 cells, a well-characterized clone of Caco-2. The uptake into the cells and the secretion rate to the basolateral space were both enhanced by glucose and galactose. This up-regulation was suppressed by SGLT1 inhibition but not by GLUT2 inhibition. Cholesterol cell uptake was significantly decreased by PMA and increased by chelerythrine, with more pronounced changes in the presence of hexoses. Thus, the involvement of a protein kinase C signalling pathway was evidenced in the regulation processes of intestinal cholesterol absorption. In the presence of antibodies directed to hSR-BI cholesterol absorption was reduced by 40% and glucose or galactose no longer enhanced it. We suggest that glucose or galactose, through an interaction with SGLT1, activates a protein kinase C pathway that regulates the activity of one of the intestinal cholesterol transporters, namely hSR-BI.
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