Responsiveness to dietary cholesterol in the domestic fowl is not related to the degree of body fatness.

The hypothesis that chickens of a lean rather than a fat line are hyperresponsive to dietary cholesterol was tested. Birds of the fat line showed higher initial plasma total cholesterol levels. The addition of 1% (w/w) of cholesterol to the diet significantly increased plasma cholesterol concentrations but there was no difference in response between the two lines. Dietary cholesterol increased liver cholesterol in both lines, the effect being more pronounced in birds of the lean line. It is concluded that the responsiveness of plasma cholesterol to dietary cholesterol in chickens is not related to the degree of body fatness.