Reverse Cholesterol Transport in the Rat Following a Short‐Term Intravenous Infusion of Fat Emulsion

: The effect on cholesterol transport of an intravenous infusion of a fat emulsion (10%) Intralipid® or 10% Lipovenos®) in vivo was investigated in the rat. Intralipid® (1.85 ml/hr/kg body weight in rts for 3 hr) caused a reduction (P<0.05) in free cholesterol in the aorta (by 25%), in plasma high-density lipoproteins (64%) and in erythrocytes (11%) with a concomitant enrichment of liver free cholesterol (16%), suggesting an enhanced reverse cholesterol transport in this species. Lipovenos® under the same conditions gave similar results. Our data support our previous in vivo study in man indicating that infusion of a fat emulsion is able even to remove cholesterol from the arterial wall and thereby possibly be considered as an antiatherosclerotic agent.