The Importance of Sex in the Variability of the Cholesteremic Response of Rabbits Fed Cholesterol

Abstract

Cholesterol feeding studies revealed that the wide variability of cholesteremic response of rabbits is in part sex determined. Male rabbits display lower cholesterol levels both before and after cholesterol feeding. Estradiol treatment of selected rabbits fed cholesterol augmented their cholesteremic response; testosterone treatment had an opposite effect. Ovariectomy lowered while orchidectomy augmented the cholesteremic response of rabbits fed cholesterol; castration tended to diminish the wide variability of cholesteremic response previously observed among intact rabbits.