Effect of different levels of dietary alpha-tocopherol and linoleate on plasma and liver lipids in rats.

The influences of dietary alpha-tocopherol, in combination with three different levels of linoleate (low, moderate or high levels), on the concentrations of plasma and liver lipids in rats were examined. Male Wister rats were fed diets ad libitum for 2 weeks. dl-alpha-Tocopheryl acetate was added to the diets in 0, 20 or 200 mg tocopherol/100 g diet. The following results were obtained. (1) Higher dietary levels of alpha-tocopherol tended to cause higher plasma lipid levels in proportion to the amounts added. This phenomenon is most remarkable in rats fed a diet containing cholesterol and low linoleate (0.8% of calorie). (2) The concentrations of plasma lipids were influenced significantly than those of liver lipids by the levels of alpha-tocopherol under the conditions of this experiment.