Abstract
THERE are two theories about the uptake of chylomicron triglyceride by the liver. The widely held view that chylomicrons are removed intact from the circulation1–3 has been challenged by Felts and Mayes4. They propose that the triglycerides are not taken up directly by the liver but are hydrolysed elsewhere by lipoprotein lipase, the resulting non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) being taken up by the liver cells. In vivo evidence that intact chylomicrons are removed by the liver has been presented earlier5 but was open to two objections4,6. First, heparin was used as an anticoagulant in the collection of the chylomicrons and sufficient could have remained after washing to stimulate lipoprotein lipase activity in the circulation. Second, studies on whole liver tissue may not give a true picture of events occurring in the parenchymal cells themselves, since trapping of chylomicrons in the tissue spaces does occur both in vivo7 and in perfusion experiments6.
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HIGGINS, J., GREEN, C. Uptake of Chylomicron Lipid by Rat Liver Parenchymal Cells in vivo. Nature 215, 83 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/215083a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/215083a0
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