Effects of dietary fatty acid saturation on serum and tissue cholesterol concentrations and fecal sterol excretion: a chronic metabolic study in the rat.
We studied the effect of the degree of fatty acid saturation on cholesterol metabolism in rats fed either a low cholesterol-low fat diet (control group), high cholesterol-low fat diet (Chol group), high cholesterol-high saturated fat diet (Chol-SF) or high cholesterol-high PUF diet (Chol-PUF). The highest serum cholesterol levels were found in the Chol-SF group. No significant difference in serum cholesterol was found between the Chol and Chol-PUF groups. The Chol-PUF group showed the greatest accumulation of cholesterol in the liver. There was no significant difference in fecal excretion of acidic sterols, cholesterol and coprostanol between the Chol-PUF and Chol-SF groups. We conclude that in chronic feeding experiments in rats: a) high dietary cholesterol intake results in hypercholesterolemia; b) the hypercholesterolemia is accentuated by high dietary SF but is unaffected by PUF; c) addition of PUF to high cholesterol diet leads to massive cholesterol accumulation in the liver which can partly account for the apparent hypocholesterolemic effect of PUF relative to SF; and d) differences in serum and tissue cholesterol levels between SF and PUF supplemented groups are unlikely to be due to their effects on fecal sterol excretion.
D000818:Animals; D004083:Cholestanol / Q000032:analysis; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000032:analysis; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013261:Sterols / Q000032:analysis*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000032:analysis
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D005227:Fatty Acids; D013261:Sterols; D014280:Triglycerides; D004083:Cholestanol; D002784:Cholesterol