Submit a Letter to the Editor for:
Guorong Xu, Gerald Salen, Sarah Shefer, G. Stephen Tint, Lien B. Nguyen, Thomas S. Chen, David Greenblatt
J Clin Invest. 1999;
103(1):89
doi:10.1172/JCI4414
Abstract |
Full text
|
PDF

W
e investigated the effect of increasing dietary cholesterol on bile acid pool sizes and the regulation of the two bile acid synthetic pathways (classic, via cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase, and alternative, via sterol 27-hydroxylase) in New Zealand white rabbits fed 3 g cholesterol/per day for up to 15 days. Feeding cholesterol for one day increased hepatic cholesterol 75% and cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity 1.6 times without significant change of bile acid pool size or sterol 27-hydroxylase activity. After three days of cholesterol feeding, the bile acid pool size increased 83% (P < 0.01), and further feeding produced 10%–20% increments, whereas cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity declined progressively to 60% below baseline. In contrast, sterol 27-hydroxylase activity rose 58% after three days of cholesterol feeding and remained elevated with continued intake. Bile drainage depleted the bile acid pool and stimulated downregulated cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase activity but did not affect sterol 27-hydroxylase activity. Thus, increasing hepatic cholesterol does not directly inhibit cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase and initially favors enzyme induction, whereas increased bile acid pool is the most powerful inhibitor of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase. Sterol 27-hydroxylase is insensitive to the bile acid flux but is upregulated by increasing hepatic cholesterol.
Guidelines:
The Editorial Board will only consider letters that we deem relevant and of interest to our readers. We will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review, nor will we post letters that are essentially a reiteration of another letter. All accepted letters will be posted on our website within one week of acceptance. The Editors reserve the right to edit any letter for length, content, and clarity. Authors of all accepted letters will be asked to preview any changes. Authors will be notified by e-mail if their letters were not accepted. As this is a final decision, no appeals will be considered.
Specific requirements: All letters must be 400 words or fewer. You may enter the letter as plain text or HTML, if you wish. The author's name and e-mail address are required, and will be posted with the letter. All possible conflicts of interest must be noted, even if they are not posted. If you wish to include a figure (keep in mind that non-peer-reviewed data will not be posted), please contact the editor directly at editors@the-jci.org.