Effect of dietary fat on metabolism of cholesterol-26-C14 in the rat

Rats were maintained for varying periods of time on a purified diet containing 20% fat as hydrogenated cottonseed oil, corn oil or coconut oil and then injected intravenously with a tracer dose of cholesterol-26-C14 in solution. No significant influence was observed by the type of fat ingested on the amount of C14 converted to C14O2, excreted in feces, or retained in the nonsaponifiable fraction of several selected tissues. From 9 to 17% of the administered dose of C14 was expired as C14O2 and from 3 to 8% was excreted in feces in 72 hours. The greatest amount of C14 retained in the body was found in the liver (11–22%), and in this organ the largest values were observed in those animals which had been on the diet the shortest length of time.