[Transport of monovalent cations into erythrocytes of rabbits with experimental hypercholesterolemia: correlation...

The activities of the Na+, K(+)-pump, Na+, K+, 2Cl- and K+, Cl(-)-cotransports and Na+, Li+ exchange as well as intracellular concentrations of Na+, K+, Mg2+ and cholesterol content in erythrocyte membranes of rabbits with experimental hypercholesterolemia have been studied. The activity of the Na+, K(+)-pump recorded as the ouabain-inhibited component of 86Rb influx is, on the average, by 100% higher than that in control erythrocytes of rabbits fed on a cholesterol-rich diet for 2 months and correlates significantly with the concentration of cholesterol (Ch) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) in the plasma as well as with Na+ concentration in erythrocytes. The activity of the Na+, K+, 2Cl- and K+, Cl(-)-cotransports recorded, correspondingly, as the bumetanide- and furosemide-inhibited component of 86Rb influx, is unobserved in rabbit erythrocytes irrespective of the Ch level in the plasma. The activity of the Na+, Li+ exchange is markedly reduced in erythrocytes of rabbits with hypercholesterolemia and correlates with Ch and LDL levels in the plasma. The K+ and Mg2+ concentrations in erythrocytes do not depend on Ch plasma levels. There was a negative correlation between the intracellular Na+ content with plasma Ch and LDL levels. The Ch content in erythrocyte ghosts is, on the average, identical for both groups of experimental animals.