Lipid Changes in Plasma,Alpha Lipoproteins,Liver and Aorta of Chicks Fed Different Fats

Abstract

Summary

Growing chicks were fed either a low-fat diet or this diet supplemented with coconut, olive or corn oil, with and without added cholesterol. In the absence of dietary cholesterol, the fats fed produced higher plasma cholesterol levels than did the low-fat control diet; no significant differences between fats were observed.

In the cholesterol-fed chick, coconut oil induced a significantly higher plasma cholesterol level than did either olive or corn oil. With cholesterol feeding, all of the fat-supplemented groups had higher plasma, liver and aorta cholesterol levels than did the group fed the low-fat control diet. In spite of lower plasma cholesterol levels, the olive oil, cholesterol-fed chicks had higher liver cholesterol levels than chicks fed coconut oil and cholesterol. The lipid phosphorus levels, in general, paralleled cholesterol.

The percentage of plasma cholesterol and lipid phosphorus bound to the plasma α-lipoproteins decreased with increasing plasma cholesterol levels. The absolute amount of cholesterol bound to the α-lipoproteins remained essentially unchanged, demonstrating that the increase in cholesterol occurs exclusively in the β-lipoprotein fraction.