Atherosclerosis in cholesterol-fed Japanese quail: evidence for amelioration by dietary vitamin E

Three experiments were conducted with adult, male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) from 5 through 14 weeks of age. In Experiment 1, quail fed a cholesterol-free diet were compared with quail fed .5% of United States Pharmacopoeias (USP), recrystallized (RCR), or oxidized (OXI) cholesterol preparations. In Experiment 2, .5% OXI cholesterol was fed alone and with .1% butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) or 100 mg d-alpha-tocopherol acetate/kg of diet and compared with .5% RCR cholesterol. Experiment 3 was the same as Experiment 2 except the BHT treatment was deleted. In comparison to RCR-treated quail, OXI-treated quail exhibited significantly increased serum (P less than .05) and liver (P less than .01) cholesterol concentrations and increased severity of atherosclerotic lesions (P less than .05). Addition of vitamin E to the OXI cholesterol diet appeared to reduce severity of atherosclerotic lesions. Vitamin E did not completely prevent atherosclerosis nor did it change the proportion of the quail population that exhibited lesions.