Abstract
Ninety seven 2 month-old wealing swine fed either a basal ration alone or the basal ration containing different levels of vitamin D (100, 000, 200, 000 or 300, 000IU per ton diet) plus skimmed milk powder (50 or 100kg per ton diet) for 4 months. No significant changes were observed in plasma calcium, cholesterol, triglycerides or phospholipid levels between the experimental groups fed diets containing 200, 000IU of vitamin D per ton diet with or without skimmed milk powder. Marked coronary arterial lesions were found in the group which was fed the diet containing 300, 000IU of vitamin D plus 100kg skimmed milk powder per ton of diet. The intima of these coronary arterial lesions contained activated smooth muscle cells, degenerate smooth muscle cells without stainable lipid, and lipid-containing cells derived from macrophages and smooth muscle cells. These results suggest that excess dietary vitamin D plus skimmed milk powder has a synergistic effect on the development of coronary atherosclerosis.
