Plasma clearance of chylomicrons labeled with retinyl palmitate in healthy human subjects

To estimate hepatic uptake of chylomicron remnants in humans, chylomicrons and intestinal very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) were endogenously labeled with retinyl esters, harvested by plasmapheresis, and pulse-injected into the donor 44 hr after plasmapheresis. Plasma decay of retinyl palmitate was measured in eight healthy volunteers. Retinyl palmitate plasma disappearance obeyed an apparent first order function in seven studies and, in one study, a biexponential function with the second, slow exponential accounting for only 13% of the retinyl palmitate plasma decay. The mean fractional removal of rate was 0.037 +/- 0.037 min-1 (mean +/- SD) in a one-compartment model. The apparent volume of distribution, Vd, was 109 +/- 25% of the estimated plasma volume. Plasma clearance of retinyl palmitate was 130 +/- 97 ml/min calculated as Vd x Ke. Mean T 1/2 was 29 +/- 16 min. Both in vitro and in vivo the retinyl palmitate remained largely within chylomicrons and intestinal VLDL. Only 4.3% was transferred from chylomicrons to other lipoprotein classes during in vitro incubation for 5 hr. After plasma was stored for 42 hr, 5% was transferred to higher density lipoproteins. During 12 hr after a test meal containing retinyl palmitate, only 6.4 +/- 1.5% of the retinyl palmitate absorbed was found in the LDL fraction and 3.1 +/- 3.8% in the d 1.063 g/ml lipoproteins. We conclude that retinyl palmitate is a useful marker for chylomicrons and their remnants in humans and that the plasma clearance of retinyl palmitate-labeled chylomicrons is probably an estimate of chylomicron remnant plasma clearance in man.