Figure 7

Multicompartmental model for apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB) and triglyceride (TG) metabolism in very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) subfractions. This multicompartmental model was developed in [31]. Circles depict compartments and arrows depict fluxes between compartments. The model includes separate modules for leucine (yellow) and glycerol (red). The free leucine plasma kinetics is modeled by two pools (3 and 4) and a plasma compartment (1), which interchange materials with an intrahepatic compartment (2). Compartment 2 feeds the apoB synthetic machinery. For glycerol, the plasma compartment (13) is connected to a pooling compartment (12) and feeds TG synthesis, which consists of a fast pathway (14) and a slow pathway (21). The assembly of lipoprotein is modeled by separate delays for apoB (11) and TG (22). The plasma kinetics of apoB and TG is modeled by a four-compartment hydrolysis chain, consisting of compartments 5, 6, 8, and 10 for apoB and compartments 15, 16, 18, and 20 for TG. Compartments 5/15 and 6/16 are associated with VLDL1, together with a slowly decaying compartment 7/17. Compartments 8/18 and 10/20 together with the slowly decaying compartment 9/19 form the VLDL2 module. Lipolysis of TG is modeled to take place in the transfer between two compartments. For details on the full model, see [31, 34], or [33]. For our purposes, we use a restricted model consisting of the leucine pool, e.g. compartments 1 to 4, see also Figure 8.