Relation between dietary cholesterol and bile acid excretion in the rat

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

The influence of dietary cholesterol on fecal excretion of bile acids has been studied in rats fed isocaloric quantities of purified diets that varied only in cholesterol content. Addition of dietary cholesterol clearly resulted in an increase in excretion of total bile acids, as well as in conversion of cholesterol-4-C¹⁴ to bile acid-C¹⁴. An acceleration in bile acid excretion as a result of cholesterol feeding was demonstrated to be independent of dietary cholic acid and to occur despite suppression of the bowel flora. These results suggest that not only does absorbed dietary cholesterol play a role in determining the rate of bile acid formation but that the adaptation of bile acid synthesis to cholesterol feeding may in part be a determining factor in the varying response of different species to cholesterol feeding.