Dietary fat and hormonal influences on lipoprotein fluidity and composition in premenopausal women

LDL and HDL became more fluid when health, free-living, premenopausal women were fed reduced fat diets with higher proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Lipoproteins were isolated from plasma of 31 female subjects fed one of two sets of diets from typical U.S.A. foods with P/S ratios of 0.3 or 1.0. All subjects were fed high-fat diets (40% of energy) for the duration of four menstrual cycles followed by low-fat diets (20% of energy) for the next four cycles. Blood samples were collected during mid-follicular and mid-luteal phases of the fourth menstrual cycle of each diet period to assess interactive dietary and hormonal control of lipoprotein fluidity. LDL was significantly more fluid, as determined by DPH fluorescence, upon reducing fat consumption from 40 to 20% of energy for subjects eating foods with P/S = 1.0 or 0.3. Generally LDL was more fluid during the follicular phase than the luteal phase of the cycles, thus indicating hormonal influences on LDL fluidity. HDL results were similar but not as pronounced as with LDL. Lipoprotein phospholipid (PL) and cholesteryl ester (CE) fatty acyl compositions were also subject to dietary and hormonal influences. Effects were noted in several fatty acids depending upon diet and hormonal state; however, generally diet fat reduction resulted in reduced linoleate and increased oleate contents. Regression analyses showed that fluidity was more dependent upon the lipoprotein cholesterol content than upon fatty acyl composition.