Dietary induction of cholesterol gallstones in hamsters from three different sources.
Cholesterol gallstones were produced in young male, golden Syrian hamsters, obtained from three different suppliers, by administering a nutritionally adequate, semipurified diet for periods of either 5 or 10 weeks. The major components of the lithogenic diet were casein, cornstarch, butterfat, corn oil and 0.3% cholesterol. The hamsters were obtained from Sesco, Harlan Sprague-Dawley (Engle hamster) and Charles River (Lakeview hamster). There were profound differences among the three groups with respect to gallstone formation and cholesterol metabolism: The highest incidence of gallstones occurred in Sesco hamsters, 44.4% and 63.6% after 5 and 10 weeks on the lithogenic diet, respectively. In the Engle hamster, after a 5-week feeding, cholesterol crystals and gallstones were absent. When the feeding period was extended to 10 weeks, cholesterol gallstones were present in 45.5% of the animals. In the Lakeview hamsters, neither gallstones nor cholesterol crystals were found in the gallbladder after a 5-week period. After 10 weeks, cholesterol gallstones were found in only a single hamster. In all groups, the lithogenic diet produced large increases of liver, serum and biliary cholesterol concentrations and increased liver weights. When the animals were fed for 5 weeks, only the bile of Sesco hamsters became supersaturated. Supersaturated bile was induced in all groups after a 10-week feeding of the lithogenic diet with cholesterol saturation ranging from 1.47 to 1.97. These data indicate that it is possible to induce cholesterol gallstones in hamsters by means of a nutritionally adequate, semipurified diet of moderate cholesterol content.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10003.
B I
BI
Cohen
N
N
Matoba
E H
EH
Mosbach
C K
CK
McSherry
D000818:Animals; D001646:Bile / Q000378:metabolism; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000378:metabolism; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000378:metabolism*; D006224:Cricetinae; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D013045:Species Specificity
D001647:Bile Acids and Salts; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D002784:Cholesterol