Rapid accumulation of cholesterol in serum, liver and aorta of Japanese quail.

Five-week-old, male, Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were given ad lib. access to either a glucose-soybean meal diet with 10% fat and 1% cholesterol (inducer) diet, or a corn-soybean meal (control) diet for 10 weeks. At the beginning of the experiment, and at two week intervals thereafter, quail from each treatment were killed, and the cholesterol concentrations of serum, aorta, and liver, as well as the extent of lipid accumulation in the intima of the aortas were determined. The cholesterol concentration of the serum, aorta, and liver of the control birds remained constant throughout the experiment, while the cholesterol concentration of these organs from birds fed the inducer diet were markedly elevated. At the conclusion of the experiment, the cholesterol concentrations of the serum and liver of birds fed the inducer diet were 6.7 and 14.4 times greater, respectively, than those from the control-fed birds. Approximately 45% of the aortas from the birds fed the inducer diet exhibited moderate to severe (greater than 25% of surface area covered) lipid accumulations at 10 weeks. The rate of cholesterol accumulation appeared to be more rapid than has been reported previously for this species.