Dietary Cholesterol Effects on Plasma and Yolk Cholesterol Fractions in Selected Lines of Japanese Quail

Japanese quail from lines that had been divergently selected for high (HL) or low (LL) plasma total cholesterol and their unselected control line (CL) were fed an all vegetable diet to which 0 or 0.5% crystalline cholesterol were added. Relationships between plasma and yolk cholesterol fractions were examined at 10, 14, and 18 wk of age, which followed 2, 6, and 10 wk consumption of the cholesterol-enriched diet, respectively. Unesterified cholesterol (UC) and cholesteryl esters (CE) in plasma and yolk were analyzed using HPLC. There were no consistent correlations between yolk and plasma for UC, individual CE, total esterified cholesterol (EC), or total cholesterol in the selected lines at ages tested, whether or not 0.5% cholesterol was added to the diet. Cholesterol concentrations in milligrams per gram of yolk and in milligrams per yolk were higher in the HL than the LL at 10 and 14, but not at 18 wk of age. Yolk weights of the HL females increased from 10 to 18 wk of age, whereas those of the LL did not. Cholesterol concentrations in the LL yolks continued to increase over time, however the increases in yolk weight in the HL were not accompanied by proportional increases in cholesterol deposition in the yolk, leading to a dilution of concentration of cholesterol fractions in the HL yolk. Dietary cholesterol increased egg production rate in the selected lines but did not increase the cholesterol content of the yolk.