Food intake and growth of guinea pigs fed a cholesterol-containing diet

Food intake and liveweight gain of 11 cholesterol-fed and 10 control guinea pigs were measured for 33 days to determine whether depressed growth previously observed in young guinea pigs fed cholesterol was due to decreased food intake or to reduced food utilization. The guinea pigs were fed a laboratory stock diet containing 5% cottonseed oil; 1% cholesterol was added to the diet for the experimental group. Results showed that food intake was significantly less in the cholesterol-fed group, while requirements for maintenance and for liveweight gain, as adjusted to metabolic body size (Wkg-0.75), were not significantly different. Food energy retention was estimated by comparing dry body weight and moisture, fat and protein content of two groups of four controls and four cholesterol-fed guinea pigs at the beginning and at the end of a 20-day food-intake period. Values derived for maintenance requirement in this comparative body composition study correlated well with those of the 33-day experiment. We conclude that feeding cholesterol to guinea pigs reduced food intake for unknown reasons but does not affect food utilization.