Abstract
The metabolism of cholesterol was studied on guinea pigs, fed with the diet containing 1% of cholesterol. In the normal animals, receiving 2 mg of ascorbic aicd daily, a marked increase of liver and plasma cholesterols was recognized after 2 weeks, while free cholesterol level was not elevated so much. It is found that cholesterol in liver and plasma is predominant in ester form. In the both groups, ascorbic acid-deficient and excessively administered (500 mg of ascorbic acid daily), without the addition of cholesterol in the diet for 4 weeks, the cholesterol level of plasma was significantly higher than that of the normal animals. The liver lipids were increased markedly by the feeding of cholesterol, while the effect of the dose of ascorbic acid was not recognized. The composition of liver lipid was analyzed by column chromatography and it was found that the levels of sterol ester and free cholesterol were elevated and phospholipid fraction was lowered in the cholesterol fed group compared with that of without cholesterol. By an excessive administration of ascorbic acid, the histological change of the liver and elevation of plasma cholesterol were recognized, while body weight gain was similar to that of the normal group. In the ascorbic acid-deficient group, without the addition of cholesterol in the diet, the decline of body weight was observed after 2 weeks, but in the group added with cholesterol did not show a marked decrease. The reason why the administration of cholesterol to ascorbic acid-deficient diet prevents the decrease of body weight, is yet unknown.
