Effect of dietary cholesterol protected against ruminal hydrogenation on the plasma cholesterol and liver of sheep

Dietary supplements containing cholesterol or sunflower oil were prepared to protect them against degradation in the rumen. On feeding daily supplements containing 1–2 g protected cholesterol and/or 100g protected sunflower oil to sheep, along with a basal ration of crushed oat grain and lucerne chaff, a rise in the plasma cholesterol was observed when compared with control animals. Livers from sheep fed protected cholesterol were enlarged, friable and cirrhotic in appearance and contained large deposits of esterified and free cholesterol, while livers from animals fed protected sunflower oil alone contained much less cholesterol. Octadecenoates constituted the major fatty acids in cholesterol esters, which, in animals fed protected sunflower oil, were mainly polyunsaturated. The factors involved in the deposition of liver lipid at very low dietary cholesterol concentrations (0.11–22%) in sheep compared with monogastric animals are discussed. Deceased.