Effects of diet on serum lipids of fetal, neonatal, and pregnant rabbits

¹ Harold Brunn Institute, Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center, San Francisco, California

The serum phospholipid, cholesterol, and triglyceride values of the fetal rabbit were determined and found to be significantly higher than similar values in the maternal host. Moreover, these fetal serum values could not be changed by altering the maternal blood lipid levels. The rise in serum cholesterol and phospholipid usually observed in the suckling rabbit could be prevented by omission of both triglyceride and cholesterol from its diet. The omission of cholesterol appeared to be most responsible for this phenomenon, because the omission solely of cholesterol from the diet of slightly older rabbits appeared capable of reducing their blood cholesterol from a level which had been elevated previously by their ingestion of cholesterol rich natural milk from lactating dams.

Note:
With the Technical Assistance of Warren Hayashi, Clarence Omoto, and Betty Wang