The effects of vasectomy and exercise on cholesterol levels in rat aortas.

The effects of vasectomy and exercise upon esterified, unesterified and total cholesterol in rat aortic tissue was determined. A factorial design with two activity levels (aerobic exercise, sedentary) and three treatments (vasectomy, sham-vasectomy, control) was employed. Vasectomy significantly increased the amount of esterified and total cholesterol in aortic tissue. The vasectomy sedentary group had significantly higher unesterified cholesterol levels than the three exercise groups. Total cholesterol levels were significantly higher for the sedentary groups than the exercise groups. There was no significant difference between exercise and sedentary groups in esterified cholesterol.