Rates of cholesterol synthesis and low-density lipoprotein uptake in the adrenal glands of the rat, hamster and rabbit in vivo.

The absolute rate of cholesterol acquisition from de novo synthesis and from receptor-dependent and receptor-independent low-density lipoprotein (LDL) uptake was determined in the adrenal glands of the rat, hamster and rabbit under in vivo conditions. The rate of incorporation of [3H]water into cholesterol in the adrenal gland was much higher in the hamster (1727 nmol/h per g) and rabbit (853 nmol/h per g) than in the rat (71 nmol/h per g). Assuming that 23 atoms of 3H are incorporated into the cholesterol molecule during its biosynthesis, the absolute rates of cholesterol synthesis were then calculated to equal 59, 29 and 2.4 micrograms/h per g of adrenal gland in the hamster, rabbit and rat, respectively. Rates of LDL-cholesterol uptake were measured using a primed continuous infusion of [14C]sucrose-labeled homologous LDL (total LDL transport) and methylated human LDL (receptor-independent LDL transport). The rate of total LDL-cholesterol uptake in the adrenal gland was much higher in the rabbit (227 micrograms/h per g) than in the rat (18 micrograms/h per g) or hamster (6 micrograms/h per g). In all three species LDL uptake was mediated largely (greater than 93%) by receptor-dependent mechanisms. In terms of total cholesterol acquisition, the hamster adrenal gland derived 10-times more cholesterol from de novo synthesis than from LDL uptake, whereas the converse was true in the rabbit. Rates of de novo synthesis and LDL-cholesterol uptake were both low in the rat adrenal gland, which is known to derive cholesterol mainly from circulating high-density lipoproteins. Thus, the adrenal gland acquires cholesterol for hormone synthesis from at least three different sources and the quantitative importance of these sources varies markedly in different animal species, including man.