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Increased acylCoA-cholesterol ester acyltransferase activity in gallbladder mucosa in patients with gallbladder
F Watanabe1, H Hanai, E Kaneko
1First Department of Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu-City, Japan.
Objective:
Although cholesterolosis of the human gallbladder is a relatively common disease, its etiology has not been fully understood. The aim of this study was to determine this etiology.
Methods:
The lipid composition of the gallbladder mucosa and gallbladder bile and the enzyme activities (acylCoA-cholesterol ester acyltransferase [ACAT] and cholesterol ester hydrolase [CEH]) of the gallbladder mucosa were measured in control subjects, patients with cholesterolosis, and patients with cholesterol gallstone disease.
Results:
Levels of cholesterol ester in gallbladder mucosa in patients with cholesterolosis (n = 12) were higher than those in control subjects (n = 8). With regard to the lipid content in gallbladder bile, no differences were found in concentrations of cholesterol, phospholipids, and bile acids among control subjects (n = 11), patients with cholesterolosis (n = 13), and those with cholesterol gallstone disease (n = 15). In gallbladder mucosa, ACAT activity was significantly higher in patients with cholesterolosis (n = 10) than in control subjects (n = 8), whereas CEH activity did not differ between the two groups. As a result, the ACAT/CEH activity ratio was higher in patients with cholesterolosis than in control subjects.
Conclusions:
It would be suggested that cholesterol ester synthesis of gallbladder mucosa might play an etiological role in the development of cholesterolosis.