Human high-density lipoproteins HDLzHighly purified phospholipase Az from Crotulus adurnanteus allowed gradual degrees of lipolysis (30-90%) on both HDL2 and HDL3. Moderate phospholipid hydrolyses were achieved using hepatic triacylglycerol lipase, partially purified from post-heparin plasma. Moreover, the latter enzyme seemed to exert a lysophospholipase activity, acting on the 2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine generated. A purified sphingomyelinase C from Staphylococcus aureus was also used and completely hydrolysed HDL sphingomyelin.2. After incubation, doubly labelled HDLz/HDL3 were reisolated in their appropriate density interval. In the presence of albumin, which bound most of the lipolysis products, phospholipolysis induced a phospholipid depletion of the particles and a heterogeneous partition of all HDLz constituents between the HDL, and HDL3 density intervals. Radioactivity distributions correlated with mass movements. The 'HDL3-like' particles isolated after HDLz lipolysis were twice as rich in cholesterol as plasma HDL3. No loss of apoprotein A , was recorded due to phospholipolysis. In the absence of albumin, the density distributions of HDLz or HDL3 constituents were unaffected by phospholipolysis, the products of lipolysis being reisolated with the stable particles.3. Control and treated HDL were also reisolated by equilibrium density gradient ultracentrifugation, gel chromatography or by gradient gel electrophoresis. Phospholipase treatment in the presence of albumin induced a shift of the HDLz or HDL3 whole distribution towards particles of higher density and lower apparent size. Lipolysed HDL, thus showed characteristics intermediate between those of HDLz and HDL3.So, phospholipolysis may affect the physical parameters of HDL particles, but additional pathways such as cholesterol movements and apoprotein loss must be linked to achieve the HDLz 4 HDL3 interconversion.In human plasma, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) represent a wide spectrum of particles in which two main subfractions are usually distinguished by a variety of procedures:HDLz and HDL3 [l-31. These two subfractions differ in chemical composition, apoprotein content, size, density and also in their metabolic behaviours. For instance, and as regards phospholipid hydrolysis, HDL3 is a good substrate for lecithin -cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), a reaction which favours the uptake of peripheral cell cholesterol, while HDLz reacts very poorly [4, 51. On the other hand, HDLz is preferentially hydrolysed, compared to HDL3, by the hepatic Correspondence to B . P. Perret,