Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 19, 448-456, May 1978
Copyright © 1978 by Lipid Research, Inc.

Cholesterol absorption and steroid excretion in cholesterol-fed guinea pigs

Maret G. Traber and R. Ostwald

Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Cholesterol absorption was studied in groups of guinea pigs fed diets containing 0, 0.1%, or 1% cholesterol. A similar proportion of tracer cholesterol was absorbed regardless of the cholesterol content of the diet. Furthermore, the proportion of tracer cholesterol absorbed by individual animals did not change when the cholesterol-free diet was changed to one containing 1% cholesterol.

Cholesterol absorption was also measured in hyporesponding guinea pigs. These guinea pigs had been fed 1% cholesterol-containing diets for nearly a year with minimal pathological effects. These hyporesponders had a decreased intestinal transit time, which enabled them to decrease the fractional absorption of cholesterol below the levels seen in the controls, and to absorb less cholesterol/kg body weight than the hyperresponders.

Excretion of total and of neutral steroids was measured in guinea pigs fed 0 or 1% cholesterol-containing diets. The 1% cholesterol-fed guinea pigs increased the excretion of steroids 3-fold over control levels. However, they absorbed more dietary cholesterol than they excreted in any form. It seems, therefore, that a major cause of the cholesterol pool expansion in the guinea pig is its inability to limit absorption of dietary cholesterol in conjunction with its inability to sufficiently increase excretion of steroids.

Supplementary key words cholesterol pool • cholesterol balance • cholesterol metabolism • bile acid excretion • plant sterols • aging • cholesterol hyporespondence

Submitted on July 25, 1977
Accepted on November 28, 1977

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