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(Circulation. 1996;94:2177-2184.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Potential Gene Therapy for Lecithin-Cholesterol Acyltransferase (LCAT)–Deficient and Hypoalphalipoproteinemic Patients With Adenovirus-Mediated Transfer of Human LCAT Gene

Sandrine Seguret-Mace, DPh; Martine Latta-Mahieu, PhD; Graciela Castro, PhD; Gerald Luc, MD; Jean-Charles Fruchart, PhD; Edward Rubin, PhD; Patrice Denefle, PhD; Nicolas Duverger, PhD

Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Gencell Division (S.S.-M., M.L.-M., P.D., N.D.), Atherosclerosis Department, Centre de recherche de Vitry-Alfortville, Vitry sur Seine, France; Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (E.R.), University of California, Berkeley; and INSERM 325, Institut Pasteur (G.C., G.L., J.-C.F.), Lille, France.

Correspondence to Nicolas Duverger, Atherosclerosis Department, Centre de Recherche de Vitry-Alfortville, 13, Quai Jules Guesde-BP 14, 94403 Vitry sur Seine CEDEX, France. E-mail nicolas.duverger@rp.fr.

Background Overexpression of human lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) in transgenic mice results in an increase of the antiatherogenic HDLs.

Methods and Results To investigate the potential use of LCAT for gene therapy, a recombinant adenovirus was constructed in which the human LCAT cDNA was expressed under the control of the human cytomegalovirus immediate/early promoter followed by a chimeric intron (AdCMV human LCAT). Human apolipoprotein (apo) A-I transgenic mice infected with AdCMV human LCAT by intravenous injection accumulated reactive LCAT in the plasma. LCAT activity was increased 201-fold in the plasma of mice infected with 1x10⁹ pfu AdCMV human LCAT, from 45±2 to 9068±812 nmol·mL^-1·h^-1, in comparison with basal LCAT activity measured in control mice, 5 days after injection. Plasma HDL cholesterol levels rose from 117±12 to 797±48 mg/dL, and plasma human apo A-I concentrations increased from 247±14 to 616±17 mg/dL, in AdCMV human LCAT–infected mice compared with control mice. HDL particles were larger and had a different electrophoretic mobility. Studies of cholesterol efflux by incubation of serum with cholesterol-loaded Fu5AH cells showed that serum from AdCMV human LCAT–infected mice promoted a significantly higher efflux than did that of the controls.

Conclusions These data establish the potential of this approach for treatment of subjects with LCAT gene defects as well as patients with low plasma levels of apo A-I and HDL cholesterol.

Key Words: genes • lipoproteins • cholesterol • lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase • fatty acids