Abstract
To determine the relative lipemic and atherogenic potential of small increments of saturated fat (22% of calories) and cholesterol (30 mg/100 kcal), 32 young adult male squirrel monkeys were fed one of four diets containing corn oil (unsaturated) or coconut oil (saturated) with or without cholesterol for 6 months. Coconut oil initiated a hypercholesterolemia, but cholesterol was needed to sustain this increase. Cholesterol added to coconut oil also produced a hyperphospholipidemia and a transient glyceridemia. Monkeys fed saturated fat had significantly more aortic atheromas than those fed unsaturated fat. Cholesterol did not appear to influence the severity of atherosclerosis when supplemented at this level, nor did it affect the ultrastructural differences described between the animals fed the two types of fat.