Evidence for the presence of tissue-free cholesterol in low density and high density lipoproteins of human peripheral lymph.

The specific radioactivity of free and esterified cholesterol in the lipoproteins of human peripheral lymph was measured in 4 normal human subjects at various intervals after labelling the tissue cholesterol by a single intravenous injection of [14C]cholesterol. The free : esterified cholesterol specific-activity ratios in lymph LDL and HDL at short and long intervals after labelling in vivo suggest that both lipoproteins were capable of acting as acceptors for tissue-free cholesterol, but that in 3 of the 4 subjects the predominant acceptor was HDL.