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Updated: Aug 30, 2026
Isolation, Characterization, and Purification of Macrophages from Tissues Affected by Obesity-related Inflammation
Published on: April 3, 2017
Evidence that macrophages transfer arachidonic acid and cholesterol to tissues in vivo
C M Peres1, P I Homem de Bittencourt, J R Mendonça
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences-I, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 1524, Butantã 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil. carmemperes@hotmail.com
Abstract:
Our previous studies have shown that [(14)C]-labelled cholesterol (CHOL) and arachidonic acid (AA) are transferred from macrophages (Mphi) to lymphocytes (LY) when these cells are co-cultured. In this study, we investigated whether these lipids can be transferred from control and thioglycollate-elicited Mphi (THIO-elicited Mphi) to various tissues and organs in vivo. For this purpose, control and THIO-elicited Mphi were pre-treated with [(14)C]-AA and [(3)H]-CHOL and then injected into the jugular vein of adult rats. More than 75% of the radioactivity injected was found in the liver of rats treated with [(14)C]-AA labelled-Mphi either control and THIO-stimulated. The radioactivity of [(3)H]-CHOL labelled Mphi was transferred mainly to the liver (51% in the control Mphi and 23% in the thioglycollate Mphi7) but it was also found in the kidney, lung and spleen. These results support the proposition that the transfer of lipids between cells also occurs in vivo. The full significance of this phenomenon however remains to be elucidated.
