Diet as Source of Serum Cholesterol in Man. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Normally active healthy adult volunteers ingested cholesterol-rich diets labelled with 4-C-14-cholesterol. The diets supplied enough cholesterol to suppress hepatic cholesterol synthesis, if the liver is as responsive to dietary cholesterol in man as in lower animals. Radioactivity of serum cholesterol permitted direct calculation of amount of serum cholesterol coming from the diet, which should equal the amount that would come from the liver if the diet supplied none. This amount was found to be 24 to 31%. Presumably, then, at least 3/4 of serum cholesterol of these human subjects was derived from cholesterol synthesis in extrahepatic tissues.