Triton hypercholesteremia: cause or consequence of augmented cholesterol synthesis

Abstract

Rats were observed to become hypercholesteremic within 90 min after intravenous administration of Triton (oxyethylated tertiary octylphenol formaldehyde polymer) detergent. At this time, intravenously-injected acetate-1-C14 was found to be incorporated into liver cholesterol to the same extent by Triton-injected animals and by their control. Twenty-four hours after Triton injection, however, acetate was incorporated into cholesterol to a greater extent by Triton-injected rats than it was by control rats. Thus, an increase in the rate of cholesterol synthesis is not the primary cause of the Triton hypercholesteremia but appears to be only an indirect effect of Triton.