Serum cholesterol and cholelithias in rabbits treated with pectin and cholestyramine
Borgman, R.F.; Wardlaw, F.B.
American Journal of Veterinary Research 35(11): 1445-1447
1974
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9645 PMID: 4429245 Document Number: 72022
New Zealand White rabbits were fed on a commercial rabbit ration until they weighed 3 to 3.5 kg and then for 10 weeks on a diet of casein 30, beef tallow 15, ground cellulose 15, salt mixture 6%, minerals and vitamins and a mixture of equal parts of sucrose, maize starch and glucose to 100%, without (control) or with cholestyramine 0.5%, citrus pectin 5.0% or both. During the first 5 weeks no cholesterol was added to the diets but then cholesterol 0.5% of diet was added. Blood was sampled weekly for estimation of serum cholesterol and at the end of the period the rabbits were killed; the livers and gallbladders were examined.Concentration of cholesterol in serum increased when the diet was changed from the commercial to the purified during the first period; a further increase occurred in the second period. Female rabbits had higher cholesterol than the males. Cholestyramine and pectin had slight hypocholesterolaemic effect in the first period and cholestyramine with pectin together depressed serum cholesterol even further, indicating that the effects were additive. In the second period the rise in serum cholesterol was faster in the control at the 6th and 7th weeks but by the 8th to the 10th weeks the values were high in all rabbits with no obvious difference between them. The extent of hepatic fatty degeneration was lessened by the addition of cholestyramine; added pectin did not have this effect. Cholelithiasis was prevented with cholestyramine or pectin.