Effects of cholesterol feeding to maternal rats on metabolism of cholesterol and bile acids in the dams and their offspring.

The influence of feeding cholesterol to rats during pregnancy and postpartum (from the 11th day of gestation to the third day after delivery) on the serum and hepatic cholesterol levels and on the bile acid composition in the pool and in the liver in relationship to the dams and their pups was examined. The hepatic content of cholesterol in both dam and offspring increased during cholesterol feeding without any changes in serum cholesterol level. In the dams, mainly the esterified cholesterol was increased; in the pups, mainly the free cholesterol was increased. Cholesterol feeding led to a pronounced increase in the pool of beta-muricholic acid and a relative decrease in the lithocholic acid concentration in pregnant rats. In fetal rats, the chenodeoxycholic acid pool was increased by cholesterol intake. The lithocholic acid pool was larger in the postpartum rats fed cholesterol than in the controls, while the concentration of alpha- and beta-muricholic acids was decreased. The neonates of cholesterol-fed dams had a larger pool of chenodeoxycholic acid but a smaller pool of beta-muricholic acid. These results suggest that the metabolism of cholesterol and of bile acids in dams and their offspring respond differently to cholesterol intake.