Effects of cereals and culture filtrate of Trichoderma viride on lipid metabolism of swine.

Swine were fed corn- or barley-based diets with, or without, culture filtrate (CF) of Trichoderma viride for 21 days. Weight gains were nonsignificantly but slightly increased by CF. The activities of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACX), fatty acid synthetase (FAS) and other lipogenic enzymes in several tissues were determined. Significant decreases in the activities of HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase in all tissues of swine fed the CF-diets were observed. The major site for the regulation of cholesterol biosynthesis was adipose tissue followed by the intestine, liver, lung and muscle in order of activity. The concentrations of cholesterol in serum and muscle were decreased 27% and 23%, respectively, by CF. ACX and FAS activities increased ca. 2-fold when CF was fed with either of the cereal-based diets. The major sites for fatty acid synthesis was the adipose tissue and, to a lesser extent, the liver. Very low rates of synthesis were detected in intestine, lung and muscle. Similar distributions of activities were found for related lipogenic enzymes.