HDL concentration, lipid transfer to HDL, and HDL size in normolipidemic nonobese menopausal women.

Objective: To determine the impact of menopause on lipid transfer from donor lipoproteins to high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) -- a process that is related to the protective function of HDL -- and the size of HDL particles.

Method: Plasma from 22 premenopausal and 18 postmenopausal nonobese, normolipidemic women paired for age (40-50 years) was incubated in an artificial nanoemulsion labeled with radioactive lipids. Then the HDL fraction was assessed for radioactivity; the percentage of radioactive lipids transferred from the nanoemulsion to HDL was determined; and the size of HDL particles was measured by laser light scattering.

Effects in post-menopausal women of transdermal estrogen associated with progestin upon the removal from the plasma of a microemulsion that resembles low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

Objective: To evaluate the effects of transdermal estradiol and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) treatment on the removal from the plasma of a cholesterol-rich microemulsion (LDE) that roughly resembles low-density lipoprotein (LDL) structure and that binds to LDL receptors.

Methods: Ten healthy post-menopausal women were studied before and after 3-month treatment with transdermal estradiol in the following dosages administered every 3.5 days: 25, 50, 50, 100, 100, 50, 50 and 25 microg.

Metabolism of a cholesterol-rich microemulsion (LDE) in patients with multiple myeloma and a preliminary clinical study of LDE as a drug vehicle for the treatment of the disease.

Purpose: Previously we have shown that cholesterol-rich microemulsions that bind to LDL receptors have the ability to concentrate in acute myeloid leukemia cells and in ovarian and breast carcinomas. Thus, LDE may be used as a vehicle for drugs directed against neoplastic cells. Indeed, we subsequently showed that when carmustine is associated with LDE the toxicity of the drug is significantly reduced in patients with advanced cancers.

Association of carmustine with a lipid emulsion: in vitro, in vivo and preliminary studies in cancer patients.

Purpose: We had previously shown in acute leukemia and in breast and ovary carcinoma patients that a cholesterol-rich emulsion (LDE) that binds to receptors for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) may concentrate in neoplastic tissues. In this study, the potential of LDE as a carrier for anticancer drugs was investigated.

Methods: LDE was associated with carmustine, and the cytotoxicity of the LDE-carmustine complex was studied in a neoplastic cell line and its biodistribution was studied in mice.