Relative Distribution of Cholesterol in Plasma and Liver Compartments of Chicks Fed Different Fatty Acids

Abstract

Summary

Growing male chicks were fed a fat-free diet or this diet supplemented with stearic, oleic or linoleic acid, with or without added cholesterol. In cholesterol-fed chicks, dietary oleic or linoleic acid increased plasma and liver cholesterol levels and plasma lipid phosphorus levels. Oleic acid-fed chicks had lower plasma and higher liver cholesterol levels than did linoleic acid-fed animals. The total liver-plasma cholesterol pool was higher in oleic than in linoleic acid-fed chicks, but there was a significant difference in distribution of cholesterol between these two compartments. Total liver lipids paralleled liver cholesterol levels. The fatty acids fed had relatively little effect on the plasma and liver cholesterol levels of chicks receiving a cholesterol-free diet.