Inhibition of cholesterol synthesis from mevalonate by aminotriazole treatment in vivo.

3-Amino-1,2,4-triazole (aminotriazole) is an irreversible inhibitor of catalase which is a marker enzyme of peroxisomes. We studied the effect of aminotriazole treatment on biosyntheses of cholesterol and bile acid in vivo. When catalase activity of peroxisomes of rat liver was inhibited by aminotriazole treatment, bile acid content in the bile was significantly decreased to about 70% of the control, but that in the liver was not changed. Cholesterol content in the bile was significantly decreased to about 80% of the control, while in liver and serum the content was not significantly changed. When [2-14C]mevalonate was administered to rats, radioactivities of cholesterol in the liver, serum and bile were all drastically decreased by aminotriazole treatment, and an unidentified radioactive product was detected. Radioactivity of bile acid in the bile was also greatly decreased. In a similar experiment with [4-14C]cholesterol, aminotriazole treatment had no effect on the radioactivity of either cholesterol or bile acid in the liver, serum and bile. In this case, the unidentified product could not be detected. These results indicate that when catalase activity of liver peroxisomes is suppressed by aminotriazole treatment, biosynthesis of bile acid from exogenous cholesterol is not inhibited, but a step in the pathway of biosynthesis of endogenous cholesterol from mevalonate is inhibited.