Cholesterolemia and Cardiovascular Sudanophilia in Rats Fed Sardine Mixtures

Abstract

Young male rats, fed a low-fat diet containing cholesterol, cholic acid, casein and lard, developed in one week severe hypercholesterolemia that was maintained for the 55-week period of the test. Animals fed a similar ration in which whole ground, drained, canned sardines replaced casein and lard did not develop severe hypercholesterolemia for the entire test period. A third group was fed the caseinlard diet for 7 weeks and the sardine diet for the remainder of the test. During the initial 7-week period, these animals also developed severe hypercholesterolemia. However, when these animals were changed to the sardine diet, serum cholesterol levels decreased rapidly and approximated the levels of the animals fed sardines from the beginning of the test. Measurements of cardiovascular sudanophilia indicated that the animals fed the casein-lard diets throughout the test developed a statistically more marked sudanophilia than did animals fed the casein-lard diets followed by the sardine diets. Animals that were fed the sardine mixture throughout the test showed a level of sudanophilia intermediate between the other two groups and not statistically different from either.