Type and amount of dietary fat affect relative concentration of cholesterol in blood and other tissues of rats.
The effects of diet on tissue cholesterol disposition in the rat were studied. Growing rats were fed a nonfat dry milk supplemented with two levels of soy-bean oil (SBO) and tallow (T) such that either 30% or 50% of total dietary calories came from fat. Two of four groups of rats fed the diets with 50% of calories from fat were supplemented with 20% ground whole oats. Considering all diets, rats fed SBO had higher blood and kidney cholesterol than did rats fed T; supplementation of the diet with oats increased the plasma cholesterol of the "50%" SBO rats and , conversely, decreased plasma cholesterol of the "50%" T rats. Muscle cholesterol content was not affected by variations in dietary fat and oats. In all treatments, cholesterol concentration of epididymal fat and liver were greater in the SBO-fed than in the T-fed rats.