Lipogenic potential in liver of the preweanling rat: influence of dietary cholesterol.
We examined the effect of a lower dietary cholesterol load on hepatic lipogenic capacity and plasma cholesterol concentrations during the normal suckling period in artificially reared preweanling rats. The artificially reared rats were fed a milk formula that contained low or normal concentrations of cholesterol during the period from the 5th to 17th day after birth. The activities of HMG-CoA synthase and HMG-CoA reductase in livers of 17-day-old rat pups reared on the low-cholesterol diet were enhanced three- to five-fold over those observed in the age-matched rats in the normal cholesterol and mother-reared control groups. The concentration of cholesterol in plasma of rats reared on the low-cholesterol milk was about 20% lower than that for mother-reared controls. In contrast, rats reared on milk with normal cholesterol content exhibited plasma cholesterol levels about 25 and 50% higher than the mother-reared and low cholesterol groups, respectively. The long-term metabolic consequences of rearing rats on milk formulations without adequate cholesterol remains to be determined.
D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000378:metabolism*; D001835:Body Weight; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000378:metabolism*; D003066:Coenzyme A Ligases / Q000378:metabolism; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases / Q000378:metabolism; D006904:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats
D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D002784:Cholesterol; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases; D006904:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Synthase; D003066:Coenzyme A Ligases; C023747:acetoacetyl-CoA synthetase