The use of dyslipidemic hamsters to evaluate drug-induced alterations in reverse cholesterol transport.

Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) is the process by which cholesterol is effluxed from peripheral tissues by HDL and returned to the liver for excretion into bile and, ultimately, into feces. Promoting cholesterol efflux from vessel wall macrophages is thought to protect against atherosclerosis and, therefore, RCT represents an attractive therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases. Although most studies of RCT are conducted in mice, this species does not express cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), which transfers cholesteryl ester from HDL to VLDL/LDL for further uptake by the liver. Given this pathway is the major route of RCT in humans, a CETP-expressing species, such as hamsters, represents a convenient preclinical model for investigating novel therapies for the treatment of dyslipidemia in humans.