Presence of dolichol and its derivatives in human blood.

Optimal conditions for the quantitative estimation of dolichol in human plasma were determined. Because of the large amounts of other lipids present in the blood, the extraction procedure, the procedure for hydrolysis, and the HPLC procedure are of decisive importance. Human plasma contains dolichol, dolichyl esters, and dolichyl phosphate at concentrations of 41, 102, and 55 ng/g, respectively. These polyisoprenoid lipids are associated with the high density lipoprotein fraction. The relative amounts and compositions of dolichyl esters in the plasma are similar to those observed in isolated human liver microsomes and Golgi vesicles. Sixty percent of the fatty acids present are saturated and almost no long-chain polyunsaturated components are present. There is no correlation between blood dolichol content and weight, sex, dietary state, or plasma cholesterol level, but there is an inverse relationship to plasma triglyceride content. A linear increase in the total plasma dolichol content with increasing age was found. In a few pathological conditions where the level of blood cholesterol was increased, the total blood dolichol content was not affected. Apparently, dolichol is a stable lipid component of human high density lipoprotein.