Early Changes in Bile Composition and Gallstone Formation Induced by a High Cholesterol Diet in Prairie Dogs

Abstract

The prairie dog, with a bile composition similar to human bile, develops gallstones when fed a high cholesterol diet. We studied the changes in the composition of hepatic and gallbladder bile during the early phases of stone formation. Adult male animals were fed a cholesterol-free diet or 1.2% high cholesterol diet containing 40% of calories as egg yolk fat. Paired groups of animals fed the high and low cholesterol diets were killed at 36 hr, 5 days, and 14 days after the diets were begun. After 36 hr, the serum cholesterol level was 427 mg per dl in animals fed the high cholesterol diet, and 143 mg per dl (P Dietary cholesterol overload in this animal model produced early supersaturation of cholesterol in bile, with subsequent cholesterol precipitation and stone formation.