Cholesterol metabolism. 3. Cholesterol metabolism in the guinea pig and rabbit

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Abstract
Guinea pigs and rabbits were fed a basal diet of animal cake and 16.6% olive oil with and without 1.6% cholesterol. The fecal excretion of lipid and its deposition in the tissues were studied. Calculated as unsaponifiable matter an avg. of 24% of the cholesterol ingested was metabolized in guinea pigs and in rabbits (1 expt.) 24%. As sterol the guinea pigs and rabbits metabolized 54%. For rats these values are, unsaponifiable matter, 18% and sterol 44%. In guinea pigs there was an increased excretion of total fecal fatty acids in the cholesterol-fed animals. In the rabbit this increase was slight. The light petroleum-insoluble acids were slightly increased in the feces of cholesterol-fed guinea pigs, but in the rabbit more light petroleum-insoluble acids were present in the feces of control animals than in those fed cholesterol. The significance of these findings in relation to the pathological lesions produced in these different species by feeding excess cholesterol in this diet is discussed.
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