The concentration of cholesterol in the low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) fraction of plasma is one of the major risk factors for coronary heart disease. Steady-state concentrations of LDL cholesterol in the plasma are determined primarily by the production rate and the rate of removal of LDL cholesterol from the circulation by receptor-dependent transport. The magnitude of these two processes is a...

We have previously shown in rats that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causes both decreased renal perfusion and kidney arginine production before nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, resulting in a >30% reduction in plasma arginine. To clarify the early phase effects of LPS, we asked the following two questions: 1) is the rapid change in renal arginine production after LPS simply the result of decreased subst...