Abstract
Summary
1) Body weights and blood plasma cholesterol values were observed periodically in male and female miniature swine fed high-tallow diets supplemented with dietary soybean phosphatides, for 17 weeks. Body weight changes were uniform throughout and were not related to sex or dietary treatment. The plasma cholesterol values of females as a whole after 3 weeks on the test, were significantly higher than for males (P < .05) and remained so after 6 weeks on test diets (P < .01), when gilts were pregnant. 2) While differences in plasma cholesterol values of several groups, due to dietary treatment, were not statistically significant at the 5% level, definite trends were observed. Plasma cholesterol values of all pigs fed the low-fat diet were reduced during test period, while those fed the high-tallow diet increased slightly. All 3 of the dietary soybean phosphatide supplements, when added to the high-tallow diets, reduced plasma cholesterol values of males. The alcohol-insoluble fraction supplement (2/3 inositol phosphatides) also slightly reduced plasma cholesterol values of females. 3) Thus, under conditions employed, soybean phosphatides incorporated in the diet appeared to counteract the hypercholesteremic effect of the diet containing a relatively high proportion of a saturated fat. 4) The tetraenoic acid concentration of plasma tended to be higher in females than in males fed comparable diets. The feeding of phosphatide supplements, while having little effect on plasma lipides of pregnant miniature pigs, promoted a marked drop in plasma cholesterol, phospholipides, and phospholipide-cholesterol ratios in male miniature pigs. There was no apparent correlation between changes in plasma polyunsaturated acids and changes in other plasma lipides during this study.
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