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Effect of Early Nutrition on Serum Cholesterol Levels in Adult Rats Challenged with High Fat Diet¹

The Joseph Stokes, Jr. Research Institute, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104 and Departments of Pediatrics and Physiology, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, AZ 85724

Early exposure to cholesterol-enriched, high fat diets has been reported to affect serum cholesterol levels in adult rats. In this study, we investigated the role of dietary fat alone, without cholesterol, by feeding to pregnant rats (from day 18 of gestation) experimental diets containing either high fat (corn oil), low sucrose (HF) or low fat, high sucrose (HS). After birth, mothers and pups were fed the diets until weaning (30 days), when serum cholesterol levels were the same in both groups of pups. Animals were fed stock diet until 7 months. At that time, half the animals from each original group (HF or HS) were challenged with HF diet for 3 days; the other half were fed stock diet. There was no significant difference in serum cholesterol between HF and HS animals fed stock diet: HF, 73 ± 7 mg/dl (n = 11); HS, 80 ± 19 (6); P > 0.25. Animals originally fed HF diet significantly raised serum cholesterol in response to late HF challenge (140 ± 31 mg/dl, n = 10, P < 0.001 vs. stock fed); the original HS-fed group did not (93 ± 7 mg/dl, n = 5, P > 0.19). Early exposure to HF diet, even without cholesterol, could evoke a hypercholesterolemic response in adulthood following challenge by brief exposure to HF diet.

KEY WORDS: • cholesterol • dietary effects • high fat diet • high sucrose diet

¹ Supported by grants AM 27624 and HL 18723, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.

Manuscript received 9 November 1982.