Missense Mutation in Abcg5 in SHRSP Rats Does Not Accelerate Intestinal Absorption of Plant Sterols: Comparison with Wistar Rats

Abstract

Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) deposit plant sterols in their bodies and have a mutation in ATP binding cassette transporter G5 (Abcg5). Lymphatic recovery rates of campesterol and sitosterol in SHRSP rats were comparable to those in Wistar rats, a strain that does not deposit plant sterols in the body and has no mutation in Abcg5. Higher absorption of stigmasterol and sitostanol was observed in SHRSP rats than in Wistar rats, but the differences between SHRSP and Wistar rats were quite small, because the absorbed amounts of these two sterols were much lower than those of campesterol and sitosterol. The in situ uptake of ³H-sitosterol and ¹⁴C-cholesterol solubilized in the bile salt micelle into intestinal mucosa was comparable between SHRSP and Wistar rats. These observations suggest that a mutation in Abcg5 does not greatly influence intestinal absorption of plant sterols in SHRSP rats, at least in comparison with Wistar rats.