Characterization of serum lipids and lipoproteins of prairie dogs fed a chow diet or cholesterol-supplemented diet

The objective of this study was to characterize (by chemical, electrophoretic, and immunologic techniques) the serum lipids and lipoproteins of female prairie dogs under the conditions of chow feeding and cholesterol feeding. Results indicate that prairie dogs on chow feeding have a serum lipoprotein pattern and chemical composition similar to a normal, healthy man. Cholesterol feeding of the prairie dogs for 2 weeks resulted in a rapid induction of hyperlipidemia with a lipoprotein pattern and lipid composition resembling a hyper-β-lipoproteinemic pattern of man. In both the chow-fed and cholesterol-fed animals, the hydrated density of the major lipoprotein fractions corresponded with the hydrated density of human lipoprotein fractions. The immunologic studies suggest that the apoproteins of prairie dog low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) may be in someway structurally different from that of canine or man. This study demonstrates that the prairie dog may be a unique, nonhuman model to study the relation of cholesterol diet and hyper-β-lipoproteinemia.