A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of acyl group transfer from phosphatidylcholine to yield lysophosphatidylcholine in human plasma.

31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to measure the rate of acyl transfer from phosphatidylcholine (lecithin, PC) in whole plasma and in high density lipoprotein (HDL). Spectral deconvolution was used to resolve overlapping resonances in the 31P NMR spectra of the phospholipids. Mean values of the acyl group transfer rates from PC in plasma and HDL were 36 mumol L-1h-1 and 19 mumol L-1h-1, respectively. The reciprocal nature of the decrease in the spectral peak intensities of PC, compared to the increase in the intensities of the lysolecithin (lysoPC) peaks, suggested a substrate/product relationship consistent with the action of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), the enzyme responsible for the esterification of free cholesterol in plasma. LCAT involvement was confirmed by measuring the cholesterol esterification rate based on the 13C NMR spectra obtained on lipid extracts from plasma that had been incubated at 37 degrees C. Within experimental error, the rate of lysoPC formation in plasma was shown to be equal to that of cholesteryl ester formation.