Effect of Dietary Sulfur on Serum Cholesterol and the Glycocholic: Taurocholic Acid Ratio of the Rat

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Abstract
The relationship of dietary sulfate to the relative conjugation of cholic acid with glycine and taurine was investigated by feeding rats 15% casein diets which contained different levels of total sulfur expressed as sulfate and different neutral to inorganic sulfate ratios. Following stomach-tube feeding of cholic acid-24-14C the glycocholic:taurocholic ratio (G:T ratio) was determined in extracts of the jejunum—ileum section of the small intestine. The G:T ratio of the rats fed a diet containing 0.1% of inorganic sulfate and 0.4% of added cysteine was the lowest. The highest G:T ratio was measured in those rats fed the diet containing 0.42% of inorganic sulfate and no added cysteine. Although not statistically significant, similar trends were observed in the serum cholesterol levels of rats fed these two diets. The data indicate that the level of sulfate and of sulfate and taurine precursors in the diet may be important in the dietary management of hypercholesterolemia.