Serum cholesterol concentrations and cholelithiasis in rabbits as influenced by the form of dietary fat

Dietary fats of similar fatty acid composition but in different forms, i.e., olive oil and semipurified oleic acid, were fed to rabbits as 15% of a purified ration for 36 weeks. At periods during the experiment, cholesterol was added to the ration in different amounts. Females rabbits seemed to have greater serum cholesterol concentrations than did male rabbits, and the rabbits fed the oleic acid usually had greater concentrations than did those fed olive oil. After cholesterol was withdrawn from the ration, several weeks were required for the serum cholesterol concentrations to return to pretreatment values. Gallstones and hepatic fatty degeneration were found in rabbits fed either olive oil or oleic acid.