[Accumulation and transformation of dietary ergosterol in rats]

The results of experiments on rats given the ergosterol-containing diet for a long time indicate that ergosterol was incorporated in liver tissues in trace amounts which are not comparable with ergosterol concentrations exerting an effect in model experiments. Ergosterol was not detected in the liver after 3-day experiments. At the same time it was established that the proportion of unchanged ergosterol in rat feces was about 16% of the amount administered per os. The products of a possible ergosterol transformation (dehydroneoergosterol-24-methyl-1,3,5 (10), 6,8 (9), 22-hexaen-3 beta-ol; 24-methylcholesta-7,24 (28)-dien-3 beta-ol; 4-cholesta-7,22,25 (?)-trien-3 beta-ol; 4-methylcholesta-7,22 (?)-dien-3 beta-ol, and so forth were identified in feces.