THE EFFECTS OF THYROID AND OF CHOLINE AND INOSITOL ON CHOLESTEROL DISTRIBUTION IN RATS FED A HIGH CHOLESTEROL DIET1

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Abstract
Plasma and liver cholesterol and liver total lipids were detd., and the aorta was examined histologically, in rats fed a purified diet containing 20% fat, 18% casein and 0.25% bile salt, and supplemented with the following components, either alone, or in combination: (a) 2% cholesterol; (b) 0.4% thyroid USP; (c) choline and inositol, either 0.25% or 1.0% each. Thyroid diminished the moderate hypercholesterolemia and severe cholesterol and lipid accumulation in the liver of cholesterol-fed rats. Choline plus inositol produced a marked hypercholesterolemia, and, at the same time, a drop in hepatic sterol and lipoid values in the group fed the high cholesterol diet. When the endocrine and dietary agents were combined, their effects on the plasma were essentially additive: they enhanced each other''s effects, as far as the mobilization of hepatic cholesterol and total lipid was concerned, except at the lower level of the lipotropic substances which did not modify the action of the thyroid hormone. Tne aorta was macroscopically normal in all groups. In the cholesterol fed rats, thyroid caused the appearance of microscopic cholesterol crystals scattered diffusely through the aortic wall; 0.25% choline and inositol did not influence this phenomenon.