Regulation of cholesterol synthesis in the liver: the influence of dietary fats.

Rats were fed, for 3 days, four synthetic diets, all of which contained the same proportion of carbohydrate (50 per cent) and were of equal caloric value per gram. These diets contained either 0 or 15 per cent fat. The fats used were lard, corn oil, Wesson oil, and a hydrogenated vegetable oil. The feeding of the fat-containing diet for 3 days increased the liver's capacity for incorporating acetate carbon to cholesterol. The fats tested were of about equal value in stimulating hepatic cholesterogenesis. The various diets fed had no effect on the lipide or glycogen content of the liver nor on the lipide content of plasma.