Table 69. — Serum cholesterol levels and organ weights jor rat litter mates fed SPE diet 











Weight 







Organ 



weights 





Litter No. 



Identifica- 

 tion No. 



Age 



Maximum 

 weight 



at 

 death 



Serum 

 cholesterol 

































Liver 



Kidney 



Adrenal 



Thyroid 







Days 



Grams 



Grams 



Mg./lOO ml. 



Grams 



Grams 



Mg. 



Mg. 



7 



{1 



513 



714 



611 



267 



19. 1 



4. 73 



46 



26 



513 



675 



657 



275 



26. 6 



2.58 



27 



21 



8 



i_ 



510 



530 



516 



285 



16.9 



1.76 



18 



15 



511 



590 



585 



220 



13. 5 



2.32 



24 



20 



10 . - 



{_ 



504 



580 



560 



432 



25. 



2.32 



18 



18 





504 



535 



500 



362 



18. 6 



1. 88 



17 



15 



13 



{I 



494 



563 



542 



154 



16. 4 



4. 50 



27 



19 



27 





494 



566 



511 



152 



16. 8 



6. 37 



29 



Table 70. — Serum cholesterol levels in rats fed other 



experimental diets 





Weight status and diet of rat 



Rats 



Average 

 age 



Serum cholesterol 





Average 



Range 



Losing weight on — 



SPE supplemented with — 



Choline, 0.5% .. . . _ 



Number 

 11 

 4 

 3 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 7 

 5 

 7 



6 

 10 

 6 

 6 

 6 

 10 



4 

 5 

 6 



Days 

 483 

 549 

 562 

 512 

 431 

 447 

 451 

 422 

 460 

 431 



679 

 548 

 591 

 626 

 529 

 420 



461 

 430 

 550 



Mg./lOO ml. 

 365 

 296 

 . 291 

 346 

 334 

 344 

 351 

 370 

 425 

 421 



138 



282 

 285 

 204 

 168 

 186 



213 

 190 

 110 



Mg./lOO ml. 

 264-700 



B ]2 , 0.01 mg./lOO gm 



Choline, 0.5%+B 12 , 0.01 mg./lOO gm __ _. _______ 



221-440 

 204-382 



B 6 , 0.5 mg./lOO gm__ ________ _ _____ _. 



252-510 



Choline, 0.5% + B 6 , 0.5 mg./lOO gm 



257-457 



Choline, 0.5% + B 12) 0.01 mg./lOO gm.+ B 6 , 0.5 mg./lOO gm__ 

 Cholesterol, 0.46% ... _____ _____ _ . _ _ 



196-549 

 261-452 



Cholesterol, 1.38% 



210-470 



Ascorbic acid, 0.2% _ 



224-930 



Ascorbic acid, 0.2% + cholesterol, 0.46% 



164-840 



SP 16 HVO 



SP 8 lard 



96-209 

 137-674 



SP 16 lard 



198-455 



SP 8 butter 



156-294 



SP 16 butter 



118-209 



Y100 



115-311 



Maintaining weight on — 



Y100 



176-252 



Y97+salt mixture, 3.0% __ _ _ ___ 



169-218 



SPW 8 HVO 



80-158 







(138 mg./100 ml.) was similar to that observed 

 on the lower level of this fat. With butter or lard 

 there was no evidence that increasing the level of 

 the fats caused any appreciable change in serum 

 cholesterol. Serum cholesterol values, however, 

 tended to be much higher when the dietary fat was 

 lard than when it was HVO. 



Serum cholesterol values were obtained for 

 rats on only two of the diets investigated to de- 

 termine the influence of egg or egg fractions — 

 SPW 8 HVO and E100. On SPW 8 HVO diet, 

 cholesterol levels were similar to those for com- 

 parable SP 8 HVO rats. On the diet consisting 

 solely of egg yolk, serum values were significantly 

 lower than when the diet contained 25 percent 

 whole egg. Supplementation of egg yolk with 

 salt mixture had little influence on serum 

 cholesterol. 



Discussion.- — The results reported in this publi- 

 cation as well as those reported by other investi- 

 gators have shown that many factors influence 

 cholesterol levels in the blood, and that the inter- 

 actions between dietary factors and other factors 

 such as heredity, age, and sex make the problem of 

 interpreting serum values a difficult one. Many 

 review articles have appeared dealing with various 

 aspects of cholesterol metabolism. Kritchevsky's 

 {109) book provides information on the biological 

 significance and function of cholesterol. Portman 

 and Stare {153) reviewed the many factors im- 

 portant in the dietary regulation of serum choles- 

 terol levels. Deuel {46) covered many phases of 

 lipid metabolism in relation to blood cholesterol 

 levels. 



Discussion of the literature dealing with serum 

 cholesterol will be limited to those investigations 



81 



