Chapter 6 - Developmental Aspects of Cholesterol Metabolism

Abstract

This chapter discusses the developmental aspects of cholesterol metabolism. The amount of cholesterol in the mammalian body increases throughout prenatal and postnatal development. The total amount of free and esterified cholesterol in fetal plasma increases as the fetus grows, but in most species the plasma cholesterol concentration in the fetus is much lower than that in the mother. The cholesterol deposited in fetal tissues is derived partly from the mother and partly from synthesis within the fetus itself. The presence of conjugated bile acids in the meconium of newborn human infants suggests that the fetal liver has all the enzymes required for the conversion of cholesterol into bile acids, and for conjugating bile acids with taurine and glycine. During the maturation of the mammalian central nervous system, there is an increase in the total amount of cholesterol in the whole brain and in the amount of cholesterol per gram of fresh or dry weight. Changes occur during brain development in many species depending upon the time at which myelination of the central nervous system begins in relation to birth. Fetal brain has been seen to incorporate acetate into cholesterol in vitro .