The effect of cholanic acid on sterol and fatty acid synthesis

The effects of cholanic acid on incorporation of glucose-U- 14C into digitonin-precipitable sterol (DPS) and fatty acid in liver and extrahepatic tissues of mice and rats have been investigated. Cholanic acid lowers plasma triglycerides in both species, but lowers cholesterol only in mice. Incorporation of glucose-U- 14C into liver fatty acid was lowered by cholanic acid in both mice and rats, as was the percentage by weight of this fraction. Incorporation into liver DPS in both species was reduced after 1-day treatment with cholanic acid, but was considerably elevated when the cholanic acid was fed for a 7-day period. Cholanic acid caused the percentage by weight of DPS in the liver to decrease in mice but to increase in rats. Incorporation of glucose-U- 14C into extrahepatic fatty acid or DPS was not influenced in rats or mice by feeding cholanic acid in the diet for up to 7 days. When fed in the diet to mice for 6 weeks cholanic acid caused the percentage of body fat as well as the weight of the epididymal fat pads to be reduced approximately 35%. Under these conditions incorporation of glucose-U- 14C into fatty acid in epididymal fat was stimulated 3-fold.