Abstract
Rats were fed diets having as a basis animal cake with and without olive oil (16.6%) containing either no added cholesterol or added cholesterol (1.6%). The neutral fraction or unsaponifiable matter of the fecal extracts was analyzed. Separation of the unsaponifiable matter by adsorption chromatography on alumina gave fractions consisting of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons, stanols, stenols, ketones and more polar compounds. Using paper partition chromatography and more elaborate methods of fractionation the neutral fraction was shown to be complex in nature. Preliminary results are reported on the ketones using polarographic methods. A balance is given of the changes which the neutral fraction derived from cholesterol undergoes in the intact rat.