Corn oil and hypercholesteremic response in the cholesterol-fed chick.

Abstract

SummaryDietary experiments in the cholesterol-fed chick have demonstrated that a higher level of serum cholesterol is achieved when cottonseed oil is fed instead of corn oil. Reconstituting the distilled fatty acids of cottonseed oil, and adding a small amount of my-ristic acid so that the proportions of the major fatty acids in corn oil were observed, did not make cottonseed oil fatty acids behave like corn oil in restricting the rise in serum cholesterol. Comparison of the whole corn germ with expressed and solvent extracted corn oil revealed that it was a much more potent agent for limiting the hypercholesteremia and subsequent atherosclerosis than the more refined products. It seems unlikely that this difference between corn oil and cottonseed oil in the effect on the hypercholesteremic response of the cholesterol fed bird could be explained by a difference in fatty acid composition.The authors are indebted to Irene Carr, Marianne Nijenhuis, and Michael Golden for technical assistance in this work.