Abstract
Summary and Conclusion
1. Rats were fed diets which were either fat-free or contained 5% lipid and either without or with 2% cholesterol. Dietary lipids with 3 degrees of unsaturation were obtained by use of unhydrogenated oil, completely hydrogenated oil, and a 1:1 mixture of the two. 2. A dissociation of plasma and hepatic cholesterol was observed. Liver reflected changes in cholesterol metabolism more sensitively than did plasma. 3. Hepatic cholesterol concentrations were directly related to degree of unsaturation of dietary lipid when cholesterol was fed. The increase in hepatic cholesterol was confined to esterified cholesterol. 4. Dietary lipid was not obligatory for cholesterol absorption. However, absorption appeared to be dependent upon digestibility and fatty acid composition of dietary lipid.
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