Absence of HDL cholesteryl ester uptake in mice via SR-BI impairs an adequate adrenal glucocorticoid-mediated stress response to fasting.

Receptor-mediated cholesterol uptake has been suggested to play a role in maintaining the adrenal intracellular free cholesterol pool and the ability to produce hormones. Therefore, in the current study, we evaluated the importance of scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI)-mediated cholesteryl ester uptake from HDL for adrenal glucocorticoid hormone synthesis in vivo. No difference was observed in the plasma level of corticosterone between SR-BI-deficient and wild-type mice under ad libitum feeding conditions. Overnight fasting ( approximately 16 h) stimulated the plasma level of corticosterone by 2-fold in wild-type mice. In contrast, no effect of fasting on plasma corticosterone levels was observed in SR-BI-deficient mice, leading to a 44% lower plasma corticosterone level compared with their wild-type littermate controls. In parallel, an almost complete depletion of lipid stores in the adrenal cortex of fasted SR-BI-deficient mice was observed. Plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone levels were increased by 5-fold in fasted SR-BI-deficient mice. SR-BI deficiency induced marked changes in the hepatic expression of the glucocorticoid-responsive genes cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase, HMG-CoA synthase, apolipoprotein A-IV, corticosteroid binding globulin, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which coincided with a 42% decreased plasma glucose level under fasting conditions. In conclusion, we show that the absence of adrenal HDL cholesteryl ester uptake in SR-BI-deficient mice impairs the adrenal glucocorticoid-mediated stress response to fasting as a result of adrenal glucocorticoid insufficiency and attenuated liver glucocorticoid receptor signaling, leading to hypoglycemia under fasting conditions.