This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Cholesterol metabolism

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Cholesterol and its esters are either:

  • ingested and absorbed from the diet in chylomicrons and then conveyed to:
    • peripheral cells for:
      • membrane synthesis
      • steroid production e.g. the adrenal cortex
      • if excess cholesterol is present, re-esterification of cholesterol via the enzyme acyl-CoA-cholesterol acyl transferase; this permits storage
    • hepatocytes for:
    • biliary excretion
      • conversion into bile salts
      • packaging into VLDL or pre-HDL molecules

  • synthesised de novo in hepatocytes before direction into similar fates e.g. biliary excretion

Cholesterol and its esters are transported haematogenously in a range of lipid-carrying particles; the most important are LDL and HDL. LDL is taken up by endocytosis by peripheral cells after recognition through cell surface LDL receptors.

The plasma cholesterol concentration is decreased by thyroid hormones which increase LDL receptors, and by oestrogens which increase hepatic catabolism of LDL.


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page