Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 37, 1289-1297, Copyright © 1996 by Lipid Research, Inc.
Low density lipoprotein particle size and core cholesteryl ester physical state affect the proton NMR magnetic environment of fatty acid methylene and methyl nuclei
JS Parks and H Hauser
Department of Comparative Medicine, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA.
Recent studies using proton NMR to quantify plasma lipoprotein
concentrations have shown that lipoprotein particle size affects the
chemical shift of methyl and methylene resonances. The purpose of this
study was to investigate the interrelationship of low density lipoprotein
(LDL) size and cholesteryl ester (CE) physical state on the chemical shift
of methyl and methylene protons. LDL were isolated from the plasma of
nonhuman primates fed diets containing lard or fish oil to result in a wide
range of LDL particle sizes and CE core transition temperatures for NMR
analysis. The proportion of nuclei in the fluid state in LDL at different
temperatures, measured as proton NMR peak intensity, paralleled the melting
profile of LDL CE determined by differential scanning calorimetry. At 37
degrees C the linewidths of several resolvable fatty acyl resonances, but
not the choline methyl resonance, were significantly less in the fish oil
LDL, indicating a less restrictive environment along the fatty acyl chain.
The (CH2)n and t-CH3 resonances demonstrated an upfield shift (i.e.,
smaller chemical shift) with increasing temperature for both diet groups,
but the peaks for fish oil LDL were always upfield from those of the lard
LDL regardless of temperature. No change in the chemical shift of the
choline CH3 resonance was observed as a function of dietary fat or
temperature. Above the transition temperature for LDL CE there was a
significant positive correlation between LDL size and the chemical shift of
the (CH2)n and t-CH3 resonances. This relationship was not statistically
significant for the same LDL below the Ce transition temperature. We
conclude that LDL CE must be fully melted to obtain accurate results for
LDL particle size distribution as well as mass quantification using portion
NMR spectroscopy.