It is becoming increasingly accepted that removal of cellular cholesterol occurs by at least
two pathways, one involving the well-described aqueous diffusion mechanism and another
promoted by lipid-free apolipoproteins. We compared the contribution of apolipoprotein-
dependent and-independent pathways, taking into consideration the influence of cellular
metabolism, on cholesterol efflux promoted by different extracellular acceptor types. The
acceptors used were assumed to participate in only passive efflux by lipid-dependent …