The influence of sex hormones on the development of sex-specific cholesterol serum levels in rats.

1. The development of sex-specific cholesterol serum levels (under a fat-enriched diet) depends on the sex hormone status during the postpuberal activation phase. 2. The efficiency of postpuberal sex hormones seems to be influenced by the presence of definite sex hormone levels during the prepuberal/puberal maturation phase. 3. An influence of the perinatal sex-specific brain differentiation on the development of sex-typical cholesterol biosynthesis as reported by Carlson et al. was not demonstrable, possibly because of our special diet regimes (fat-enriched diet).