Age-related changes in the metabolism of cholesterol in rat liver microsomes

The effects of aging on the hepatic metabolism of cholesterol were studied in 1-, 6- and 24-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats. Microsomal 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase activity, which regulates cholesterol biosynthesis, decreased from 835 +/- 144 (SEM) pmol/min/mg protein in the youngest group to 219 +/- 34 and 205 +/- 53 pmol/min/mg protein (p less than 0.001) in the 6- and 24-month-old groups, respectively. Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity, which governs bile acid synthesis, was gradually reduced from 70 +/- 14 pmol/min/mg protein in the 1-month-old group to 32 +/- 7 and 16 +/- 3 pmol/min/mg protein (p less than 0.05) in the 6- and 24-month-old groups, respectively. Acyl coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase activity, which catalyzes the esterification of cholesterol, averaged 431 +/- 47 and 452 +/- 48 pmol/min/mg protein in the 1- and 6-month-old groups, respectively, and was increased to 585 +/- 55 pmol/min/mg protein (p less than 0.05) in the 24-month-old group. The level of total cholesterol showed an age-related increase from 1.56 +/- 0.16 mg/g liver in the 1-month-old group to 1.70 +/- 0.15 and 2.20 +/- 0.19 mg/g liver (p less than 0.05) in the 6- and 24-month-old groups, respectively. The increase was mainly caused by an accumulation of esterified cholesterol. We conclude that a marked decrease in HMG-CoA reductase occurs between 1 and 6 months of age; thereafter the enzyme activity stays unchanged. The activity of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase decreases progressively and drastically with age, whereas the capacity for esterifying cholesterol increases slightly.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)