Effects of Dietary Sterols and Sterol Esters on Plasma and Liver Cholesterol in the Chick

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Abstract
Feeding cholesterol esterified with fatty acids produced lower plasma and liver levels of cholesterol in young male chicks than did the feeding of free cholesterol. With cholesterol acetate this difference was slight but with some saturated fatty acid esters the difference was pronounced and the tissue levels decreased in the following order: caprate, myristate, palmitate, and stearate. With the last two esters plasma and liver cholesterol were approximately the same as those of normal chicks on low cholesterol diets. Cholesteryl oleate produced an effect intermediate between that of acetate and caprate. Although cholesteryl palmitate was apparently poorly absorbed it did not inhibit increases in tissue cholesterol when fed along with cholesterol. The palmitates of ergosterol and dihydrocholesterol do not prevent increases in tissue cholesterol when fed with cholesterol as do the free sterols. Tissue levels of 7-dehydrocholesterol were higher and those of cholesterol were lower when a mixture of these two sterols was fed when either was fed alone. Tissue levels of cholesterol were increased by feeding cholic acid, oleic acid or cottonseed oil in combination with cholesterol. These increases were prevented by the presence of mixed soy sterols in the diet.