Vitamin E Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vitamin E, including details on benefits, dosage, supplements, antioxidants.

Cholesterol accumulation is increased in macrophages of phospholipid transfer protein-deficient mice: normalization by dietary alpha-tocopherol supplementation.

Ogier N, Klein A, Deckert V, Athias A, Bessède G, Le Guern N, Lagrost L, Desrumaux C

INSERM U866, Centre de Recherche, IFR Santé-STIC, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.

OBJECTIVE: Phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) is a multifunctional, extracellular lipid transport protein that plays a major role in lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis. Recent in vivo studies suggested that unlike systemic PLTP, macrophage-derived PLTP would be antiatherogenic. The present study aimed at characterizing the atheroprotective properties of macrophage-derived PLTP. METHODS AND RESULTS: Peritoneal macrophages were isolated from PLTP-deficient and wild-type mice and their biochemical characteristics were compared. It is shown that macrophages isolated from PLTP-deficient mice have increased basal cholesterol content and accumulate more cholesterol in the presence of LDL compared with wild-type cells. Cholesterol parameters in macrophages of PLTP-deficient mice were normalized by dietary alpha-tocopherol supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: The antiatherogenic properties of macrophage-derived PLTP are related at least in part to its ability to reduce cholesterol accumulation in macrophages through changes in the alpha-tocopherol content and oxidative status of the cells.

Published 18 October 2007 in Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 27(11): 2407-12.
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