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Effect of Medium Chain Triglycerides and Dietary Protein on Cholesterol Absorption and Deposition in the Chicken¹

Nutrition Department, Thompson Hall, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, P. O. Box 231, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

The effects of cholic acid, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) and corn oil on the absorption and disposition of cholesterol were studied in chicks fed different sources and levels of dietary protein. In chicks fed MCT, absorption of dietary cholesterol was appreciable, but less than with corn oil. Plasma and liver cholesterol levels were higher on low protein as compared to high protein intakes, despite a similar rate of cholesterol absorption and a greater intake of dietary cholesterol on the high protein diets. Growth efficiency differences may partially explain this observation. Dietary cholic acid increased the cholesterol pool in comparison to birds not given this bile acid; however, there was little, if any, effect of cholic acid on cholesterol absorption. Chicks fed methionine-supplemented soybean meal had generally lower plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations than chicks fed casein (supplemented with arginine, glycine and methionine) as the source of dietary protein. The soybean meal-fed chicks eliminated considerably more cholesterol in their excreta than the casein-fed birds, resulting in an increase in the apparent retention of cholesterol for the latter; this retention could account for the elevated plasma and liver cholesterol levels observed.

KEY WORDS: • medium-chain triglycerides • cholesterol absorption • cholesterol deposition • dietary protein

¹ Paper of the journal series, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station; supported in part by American Heart Association, New Jersey Affiliate and also by U. S. Public Health Service Grant NIH HL 12983-03.

Manuscript received 20 December 1972.