title: Hypercholesterolaemia of prolonged fasting and cholesterol lowering of re-feeding in lean human subjects.
abstract: Serum cholesterol and triglycerides were determined in 36 lean, healthy adults (mean body mass index = 24.3 +/- 0.4 kg m-2) during a period of fasting of 7-21 days. Fasting for 1 week resulted in significant elevation of serum cholesterol (mean increase 25%, range 0-68) and triglycerides (mean increase 24%). No correlation was observed between pre-fast cholesterol level and fasting-induced hypercholesterolaemia. Continued fasting for up to 21 days resulted in lowering of both cholesterol and triglycerides to pre-fast levels. One week of hypocaloric re-feeding resulted in significantly lower than pre-fast cholesterol (mean decrease 13%) and significantly higher than prefast triglycerides (mean increase 86%). The net change in serum cholesterol observed as a result of fasting and re-feeding correlated with prefast cholesterol (r = -0.6901, p = 0.0001). No significant change in the ratio of unesterified cholesterol to total cholesterol was observed during fasting. Fasting for 3 weeks followed by 1 week of hypocaloric re-feeding, however, resulted in a significant (p = 0.05) increase in this ratio from 0.27 +/- 0.0057 to 0.34 +/- 0.01. Fasting for 1 or 2 weeks followed by re-feeding also resulted in a similar increase in the ratio of unesterified cholesterol to total cholesterol. Cholesterol in the HDL fraction remained within normal range throughout the fasting and re-feeding period, with no significant changes between time points.
authors.affiliation: Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fort Wayne, USA.
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Thampy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D002788:Cholesterol Esters / Q000097:blood; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D004435:Eating; D004798:Enzymes / Q000097:blood; D005215:Fasting / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000378:metabolism*; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014508:Urea / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002788:Cholesterol Esters; D004798:Enzymes; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D012709:Serum Albumin; D014280:Triglycerides; D014508:Urea; D002784:Cholesterol; D003404:Creatinine; D001663:Bilirubin