Lipid composition of cells and low-density lipoproteins in blood serum of human and some vertebrate species

To establish interaction of atherogenic low-density lipoproteins (LDL) with the erythrocyte membrane, the content of lipid components in blood cells and serum LDL was studied in healthy people (donors) and in 12 species of vertebrates (the mammals non-predisposed to atherosclerosis — birds and fish). Lipid composition of blood cells and LDL was also analyzed in patients with pathologies: ischemic heart disease (IHD), bronchial asthma (BA), and chronic obstructive bronchitis (COB), as well as in 2 species of mammals predisposed to atherosclerosis, in whose blood LDL predominated. The content of lipids in the blood cells and LDL of the studied vertebrates has been found to depend on their taxonomy and on the clear trends either for an increase in the cholesterol content and a decrease in the phosphatidylcholine level in patients, particularly with IHD, or for a rise of the ratio of the content of the more saturated sphingomyelin and cholesterol to the less saturated phosphatidylcholine from the lower to the higher organisms, including humans (donors). The highest levels of free cholesterol in blood cells of total cholesterol in LDL, as well as of parameters of ratio of the cholesterol/phosphatidylcholine content have been revealed in patients, especially with IHD, and in the mammals predisposed to atherosclerosis, i.e. in representatives with predominance of blood LDL, in contrast to donors and the mammals resistant to atherosclerosis. The highest parameters of lipid components were determined in blood cells and LDL in patients with IHD. The lipid LDL composition affects directly the composition and ratio of lipids in blood cells.