Increased hepatic secretion of very-low-density lipoprotein apolipoprotein B-100 in cholesteryl ester storage disease.

Using a stable isotope method, we measured the hepatic secretion rate of very-low-density lipoprotein apolipoprotein B-100 (VLDL apoB) in a 26-year-old women who had dyslipidemia due to cholesteryl ester storage disease (CESD) and in five normolipidemic subjects. [1-13C]Leucine was administered by a primed constant intravenous infusion and the enrichment of VLDL apoB was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The absolute secretion rate (ASR) of VLDL apoB in the patient was more than twice the mean ASR of the normolipidemic group (17.1 vs 8.0 +/- 0.8 mg/kg body wt. per day). The plasma mevalonic acid concentration, a measure of intrahepatic cholesterol synthesis, was also greater in the patient than in the normolipidemic subjects (8.3 vs 4.4 +/- 1.8 micrograms/L). The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that in CESD increased intrahepatic synthesis of cholesterol stimulates hepatic secretion of VLDL apoB and this may partly account for the dyslipidemia.