A comparison of the turnover and metabolism cholesterol in normal and atherosclerotic monkey aortas

Rhesus monkeys were fed high cholesterol and cholesterol-free diets for 21-24 months. The animals were then given isotopic cholesterol intravenously and autopsied from 1 to 51 weeks later. The plasma and aortic cholesterol contents were 633 +/- 130 mg/dl and 35.6 +/- 11.4 mg/g dried tissue (45.5% in ester form) for atherosclerotic monkeys and 135 +/- 25 mg/dl and 9.9 +/- 3.6 mg/g (15.0% in ester form) for control monkeys, respectively. The minimal influx rate of cholesterol from plasma into the aorta was much greater for atherosclerotic animals, 0.470 +/- 0.20 mg/g per day versus 0.088 +/- 0.031 for control monkeys. There was a rapid turnover of both free and esterified cholesterol in the atherosclerotic aortas, greater than for normal aortas. These studies of cholesteryl ester metabolism indicated a likely origin of aortic cholesteryl ester from the plasma cholesteryl esters. Our data indicated a dynamic cholesterol metabolism and turnover in the aorta during atherogenesis.