Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #72796
Title: OBESE PIGS FED A HIGH CHOLESTEROL DIET FROM BIRTH TO 2 MONTHS ARE LESS SUSCEPTIBLE THAN LEAN PIGS TO ATHEROSCLEROSIS.

Author
item HACKMAN, ANNE - BAYLOR COLL OF MEDICINE
item POND, WILSON - USDA/ARS/CNRC
item Mersmann, Harry
item Wong, William
item KROOK, LENNART - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
item ZHANG, SHIDE - BAYLOR COLL OF MEDICINE

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The way infants respond to cholesterol in their diets may affect the risk of developing atherosclerosis, meaning a fat build-up in the arteries that can cause strokes or heart attacks. There is data to support reducing dietary fat in children over 2 years, but the role of cholesterol in early infant nutrition is not clear. Our study weighed a high-cholesterol diet against a no-cholesterol diet during the first 2 months of life in pigs bred to be lean or obese. The lean pigs fed high cholesterol built up more plaque in the major artery of the body than the fat pigs. The fat pigs fed high cholesterol developed higher blood cholesterol of all types, but by day 55, only high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) remained higher. HDL-C is regarded as a good form of blood fat since it carries excess cholesterol out of body tissue. Our results suggest inherited differences in how the lean and fat piglets adapted to the high-cholesterol diet made the fat ones less susceptible to atherosclerosis, probably due to their higher HDL-C.

Technical Abstract: Dietary cholesterol in infancy may alter cholesterol metabolism and the propensity to develop atherosclerosis. This study examined the effects of a 1% cholesterol diet (HC) vs a no-cholesterol diet (NC) during the first 2 mo of life on pigs selectively bred for leanness or obesity. Three lean and three obese pigs received the no-cholesterol diet, and four lean and four obese pigs received the 1% cholesterol diet from d1. Lean and obese pigs fed the no-cholesterol diet showed no increase in serum lipid concentra- tions, nor did they develop atherosclerosis. Obese pigs fed the 1% chol- esterol diet developed significantly higher serum total cholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) at 35d than lean pigs fed the 1% cholesterol diet. By d55, only HDL-C remained significantly higher in the obese pigs, resulting in a higher (P<0.1) TC/HDL-C ratio in the lean pigs. Atherosclerotic plaque formation in the aorta was more extensive in the lean pigs. Cholesterol synthesis measured in vivo and at termination was equally suppressed in lean and obese pigs fed the 1% cholesterol compared with pigs fed the no-cholesterol diet. We conclude that genetic differences in the response of these lean and obese pigs to a high cholesterol diet render obese pigs less susceptible to atherosclerosis despite higher serum TC concentrations. The persistent elevation of HDL-C in obese pigs is the most likely mechanism of protection.