Role of endogenous and exogenous cholesterol in liver as the precursor for bile acids in rats.

There is considerable evidence suggesting that compartmentalized functional pools of cholesterol in the liver contribute differently to the formation of bile acids as the precursor. The present paper deals with the incorporation of [1-14C] acetate and of [1,2-3H] cholesterol carried on lipoproteins (LDL and HDL) into biliary bile acids in perfused rat livers and bile-fistula rats. The results showed that endogenous cholesterol synthesized newly from [1-14C] acetate in the liver was incorporated into both cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid in a similar way, while exogenous lipoprotein-[1,2-3H) cholesterol delivered to hepatocytes from hepatic circulation was incorporated into chenodeoxycholic acid at a higher rate.