Metabolism of cholesterol-4-C14 in bile duct cannulated chicks and rats.

THE main pathway of cholesterol catabolism involves the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids which are eliminated via the bile and feces. As liver cholesterol is considered to exist in equilibrium with serum cholesterol, nutritional factors accelerating cholesterol catabolism may lower the serum cholesterol level. Furthermore, it is well known that hypercholesterolemia and subsequent experimental atherosclerosis can be more easily produced in chickens than in rats; the latter are extremely resistant to experimental atherosclerosis. Only extensive treatment with dietary cholesterol, thiouracil, and cholic acid causes hyperlipemia in rats.'