| Abstract: | Rabbits were fed skim milk-based diets containing by weight either 14% soybean oil, 28% soybean oil, 14% tallow or 28% tallow. A control group was fed a commerical stock diet. Plasma cholesterol concentration was monitored for 10 weeks, after which cholesterol concentrations of liver, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, brain, heart, aorta, kidney, skin and intestinal mucosa were determined. Feeding soybean oil diets (relatively high content of polyunsaturated fat by acids) resulted in lesser concentrations of cholesterol in blood plasma than did feeding tallow diets (greater content of saturated fatty acids). Conversely, cholesterol contents were greater in skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, heart, aorta, kidney, skin and intestinal mucosa of rabbits fed soybean oil diets. Cholesterol contents of liver and brain were unaffected by type of dietary fat. Our results demonstrate that the degree of saturation of fat in a milk-based diet of rabbits will influence the partitioning of cholesterol between the blood and several other tissues and organs. |
