The mechanism responsible for the hypercholesteremia induced by triton WR-1339.

Injection of triton WR-1339 into rats leads to a rapid increase in the cholesterol, cholate, and various lipid fractions of their blood. The increase in cholesterol is confined to the blood itself. The cholesteremic effect of triton was not dependent upon a prior accumulation of cholate in plasma. The liver was found to be the source of the excess cholesterol but the rate of cholesterol synthesis, the excretion of cholate, and the cholesterol content of the liver were not changed by injection of triton. The cholesteremic effect of triton is not due to alteration in the intestinal excretion of cholesterol. Transfer of blood between "tritonized" and normal rats leads to a disappearance of the hypercholesteremia in the former and its appearance in the latter animals. The plasma proteins of rats injected with triton are markedly changed qualitatively. Heparin was found to inhibit the hypercholesteremic effect of triton. The hypercholesteremia following triton injection appears to be due to a fundamental physicochemical change in the plasma proteins produced by injection of this detergent.