RELATION OF PLASMA HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL TO LIPOPROTEIN-LIPASE ACTIVITY IN ADIPOSE-TISSUE AND SKELETAL-MUSCLE OF MAN

Lipoprotein-lipase activity (LPL) was measured in biopsies of adipose tissue and skeletal muscle of normal human subjects, and the results were related to concentrations of cholesterol and triglyceride in plasma lipoproteins. Adipose-tissue LPL activity was significantly higher in females than in males, whereas no sex difference was observed in skeletal-muscle LPL activity. A highly significant positive correlation was present between the plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level and LPL activity in adipose tissue (r = +0.66, P < 0.001) but not between HDL and skeletal-muscle LPL. The results suggest that the activity of LPL in adipose tissue and the rate of catabolism of triglyceriderich lipoproteins might be one of the factors that determine the concentration of HDL in plasma and at least partly account for the known sex difference in plasma HDL level. © 1978.