© 1969 American Heart Association, Inc.
Incorporation of Oleic Acid into Lipid by Foam Cells in Human Atherosclerotic Lesions
1 Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne Victoria, Australia
The incorporation of 14C-labeled oleic acid into phospholipid, cholesterol ester, and triglyceride in human arterial intima (normal and atherosclerotic) obtained from kidney transplant donors has been investigated in vitro. Most of the oleic acid was incorporated into phospholipid, in both the normal intima and the atherosclerotic lesion, but a greater proportion of label was diverted to cholesterol ester in the lesion. Representative sections of the vessels used for metabolic studies were taken for radioautography, and these demonstrated localization of 14C to foam cells, but very little localization in the region of spindle-shaped cells. It was concluded that lipid synthesis in the human atherosclerotic lesion takes place predominantly in the intimal foam cells.
Key Words: human atheroma • lipid metabolism • fatty acids • arterial wall metabolism • intimal cells • phospholipid • cholesterol ester • radioautography
Accepted on November 25, 1968