Lymphatic absorption and deposition of various plant sterols in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats, a strain having a mutation in ATP binding cassette transporter G5.

ATP binding cassette transporter G5 (ABCG5) and ATP binding cassette transporter G8 (ABCG8) have been suggested to transport absorbed plant sterols and cholesterol from enterocytes to the intestinal lumen and from hepatocytes to bile. It has been thought that mutations of ABCG5 or ABCG8 cause the deposition of plant sterols in the body. In the present study, lymphatic absorption of various plant sterols and their deposition in various tissues was investigated in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP), having a mutation in Abcg5 and depositing plant sterols in the body.

The rat STSL locus: characterization, chromosomal assignment, and genetic variations in sitosterolemic hypertensive rats.

Background: Elevated plant sterol accumulation has been reported in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHRSP) and the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat. Additionally, a blood pressure quantitative trait locus (QTL) has been mapped to rat chromosome 6 in a New Zealand genetically hypertensive rat strain (GH rat). ABCG5 and ABCG8 (encoding sterolin-1 and sterolin-2 respectively) have been shown to be responsible for causing sitosterolemia in humans.