Previous spin-label and electromyographic experiments with rats fed 20,25-diazacholesterol, an inhibitor of the biosynthetic conversion of desmostero to cholesterol, demonstrated an increased erythrocyte membrane fluidity and myotonia, a prolonged muscle contraction upon stimulation. The current studies with rats showed normal erythrocyte fluidity in animals fed 20,25-diazacholesterol but maintained on a high-cholesterol diet and no myotonia. Studies of model membrane systems composed of phospholipid vesicles containing desmosterol, cholesterol, or both demonstrated that desmosterol increased membrane lipid fluidity relative to cholesterol, suggesting that in 20,25-diazacholesterol-induced myotonia, in which desmosterot accounts for 85% of the plasma sterol, the increased membrane fluidity previously observed in erythrocytes and sarcolemma in this animal model of human congenital myotonia may be due to desmosterol.
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February 01 1984
Membrane fluidity and myotonia: Effects of cholesterol and desmosterol on erythrocyte membrane fluidity in rats with 20,25-diazacholesterol-induced myotonia and on phospholipid liposomes
J. Ashraf;
J. Ashraf
1Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055, USA
*Pituitary Hormones and Antisera Center, Harbor/UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA 90509, USA
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J. B. Feix;
J. B. Feix
1Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055, USA
**National Biomedical ESR Laboratory, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA
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D. A. Butterfield
D. A. Butterfield
1Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055, USA
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
December 09 1983
Online ISSN: 1573-4935
Print ISSN: 0144-8463
© 1984 The Biochemical Society
1984
Biosci Rep (1984) 4 (2): 115–120.
Article history
Received:
December 09 1983
Citation
J. Ashraf, J. B. Feix, D. A. Butterfield; Membrane fluidity and myotonia: Effects of cholesterol and desmosterol on erythrocyte membrane fluidity in rats with 20,25-diazacholesterol-induced myotonia and on phospholipid liposomes. Biosci Rep 1 February 1984; 4 (2): 115–120. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01120307
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