Dietary myristic acid modifies the HDL-cholesterol concentration and liver scavenger receptor BI expression in the hamster.

The influence of myristic acid in a narrow physiological range (0.5 to 2.4% of total dietary energy) on the plasma and hepatic cholesterol metabolism was investigated in the hamster. The hamsters were fed on a diet containing 12.5 g fat/100 g and 0.05 g cholesterol/100 g with 0.5% myristic acid (LA diet) for 3 weeks (pre-period). During the following 3 weeks (test period), they were divided into four dietary groups with 0.5% (LA), 1.2% (LM), 1.8% (ML) or 2.4% (M) myristic acid. Finally, half the hamsters in each group were again fed the LA diet for another 3 weeks (post-period). At the end of the test period, the hepatic expression of the scavenger receptor BI (SR-BI) was lower in the LM, ML and M groups than in the LA group whereas the hepatic cholesteryl ester concentration was higher. Cholesterol 7alpha hydroxylase activity was lower in the ML and M groups than in the LA and LM groups while the sterol 27 hydroxylase and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase activities were not modulated by dietary myristic acid. This is the first time a negative correlation has been observed between the HDL-cholesterol concentration and the hepatic mass of SR-BI (r -0.69; P<0.0001) under physiological conditions. An inverse linear regression was also shown between SR-BI and the percentage of myristic acid in the diet (r -0.75; P<0.0001). The hepatic mass of SR-BI in the M group had increased at the end of the post-period compared with the test-period values. The present investigation shows that myristic acid modulates HDL-cholesterol via a regulation of the SR-BI expression.