MINERALS IN NUTRITION 



29 



Table 2. — The Effect of Cholesterol and Other Ration Supplements 



Upon Liver Weight and Cholesterol Content 



(Litters K, L, M, N, P, Q) 



Supplement in 



Total Ration 



Consumed 



Number Liver Cholesterol in Liver 



of Weight ■ 



Rabbits Grams Percent Milligrams 



None 2 99 .013 1.3 



Cholesterol (1.0%) 6 127 .095 18.8 



Cholesterol plus kelp (34%) 4 111 .049 8.7 



Cholesterol plus kelp ash (12%) 6 131 .048 9.4 



Cholesterol plus salt mixture (12%)).... 6 115 .051 11.0 



Summary 



Typical atherosclerosis, similar to the clinical condition in humans, 

 may be produced in rabbits by feeding cholesterol. The condition is 

 probably related to the high cholesterol content of the blood invariably 

 present for some weeks before the damage appears in the aorta. 



Previous reports that iodine compounds tend to prevent or inhibit this 

 damage have been investigated, with careful attention to time and to the 

 amount of cholesterol fed, and to sex and litter-mate relationships. 



Potassium iodide as a ration supplement, sufficient to supply 25 milli- 

 grams of iodine per day to each rat, caused an increase in the blood choles- 

 terol and in the severity of the damage to the aortas. 



Kelp, a dried seaweed, in quantities sufficient to supply 25 milligrams of 

 iodine per day to each rat, tended to lower the blood cholesterol and to 

 decrease the severity of aortic damage. The ash of the same amount of 

 kelp, containing about one third of the iodine originally present, gave no 

 apparent protection against cholesterol injury. 



A synthetic salt mixture, made to approximate as closely as possible the 

 inorganic constituents of kelp, with potassium iodide as a source of iodine, 

 exerted a definite protective action against aortic damage, but had a less 

 pronounced effect in controlling the blood-cholesterol content. 



It must be concluded, from these findings, that some inorganic factors 

 in kelp in addition to the iodine are essential for the protection of rabbits 

 against aortic damage associated with a rise in the blood cholesterol. 



