Regulation of cholesteryl ester transfer activity in adipose tissue: comparison between hamster and rat species

The present study demonstrates cholesteryl ester transfer activity (CETA) in cultured hamster and rat adipose tissue. Cultured hamster and rat adipose tissue fragments released CETA into the conditioned medium, and this was associated with a reciprocal decrease in adipose tissue CETA. Regional variations in adipose CETA were observed. The levels of CETA released from cultured hamster and rat adipocytes were higher than those from adipose tissue fragments. In hamsters but not in rats, the secretion of CETA from cultured adipose tissue was increased by insulin and inhibited by EDTA in a dose-dependent fashion. Monoclonal antibodies against human cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibited the CETA secreted from hamster adipose tissue but not that from rat adipose tissue. Fasting for 24 h and a high-cholesterol saturated fat-rich diet increased adipose CETA in hamsters and rats, and this was associated with an elevation of plasma CETA only in hamsters. This supports the view that, in hamsters, adipose CETA has in situ and intravascular functions, whereas in rats the role of adipose CETA is restricted to tissue-specific functions. Hamster cholesteryl ester transfer protein may differ from rat adipose-associated CETA in the structure of the active site and the regulatory mechanism for its secretion.