Relative Failure of Saturated Fat in the Diet to Produce Atherosclerosis in the Rabbit

Abstract

Three "saturated" fats of vegetable origin were fed to different groups of rabbits for periods up to 1 year. Cocoa butter and a hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening produced no hypercholesterolemia. Coconut oil feeding increased the serum cholesterol concentrations for 4 months, but a decline to baseline values occurred after 6 months. No gross atherosclerosis occurred in any animal fed coconut oil or the hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening. Slight atherosclerotic lesions were found in 50% of the rabbits fed cocoa butter. Aortic cholesterol content was slightly increased in animals fed coconut oil and cocoa butter. Dietary fats, even when highly saturated, had only a minimal capacity to produce atherosclerosis in the rabbit, a species usually highly susceptible to the induction of atherosclerosis. When a moderate amount of cholesterol was added to the diet, the serum cholesterol levels increased greatly and considerable atherosclerosis resulted.

Effect of High Fat Diet Without Cholesterol Supplementation on Oxidative Stress and Lipid Peroxidation in New Zealand White Rabbits

“…Most previous experiments conducted in animals to study the effect of dietary fats on serum cholesterol and atheroma formation have supplemented the diet with cholesterol, and the results obtained are not uniform [4][5][6][7] . Various investigators have studied the effect of different dietary fats on lipid peroxidation in animals 8,9) , though their effect on antioxidant parameters has not been fully elucidated.…”

Atherosclerosis in Ruminants

“…(Connor, Rohwedder and Armstrong, 1967;Cook, 1936;Fraser and Courtice, 1969;and Wilkens, De Wit and Bronte-Stewart, 1962). …”

“…Saturated fats, cocoa butter and hydrogenated vegetable oil shortening fed to rabbits for periods of up to one year did not produce hypercholesterolemia or gross atherosclerosis (Connor, Rohwedder and Armstrong, 1967). Feeding coconut oil for the same time increased serum cholesterol for four months but a return to baseline was noted by six months.…”

Atherosclerosis in ruminants

“…The analysis of variance in (Connor, Rohwedder and Armstrong, 1967;Cook, 1936;Fraser and Courtice, 1969;and Wilkens, De Wit and Bronte-Stewart, 1962). It is recognized that a deficiency of magnesium has been suggested as a contributing factor to atherogenesis.…”