Capacity of Human Intestine to Absorb Exogenous Cholesterol

¹ From the Department of Clinical Science, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois

The capacity of the human intestine to absorb cholesterol when added in increasing amounts to a basal diet containing approximately 10 gm of animal and 10 gm of vegetable fat, 380 mg of cholesterol and 300 mg of phytosterols per day was studied in 16 healthy subjects. Cholesterol was added to this diet for a period of 1 week in the amounts of 1, 3, 6 and 9 gm/day mixed with 17 gm of margarine made from hydrogenated soya and cottonseed oil. The average maximum intestinal capacity of the subjects to absorb cholesterol was 2.0 gm/day. A maximum capacity of 2.9 gm was observed in two different subjects during 19 tests on 16 subjects at the 6 gm level of intake. The maximum observed on the 9 gm level in one of eight subjects was 2.5 gm/day. An increase in the margarine intake from approximately 17 gm to 40 gm/day (total fat from 33 to 50 gm/day) did not increase the amounts of cholesterol absorbed. Under the conditions of this study the average maximal intestinal capacity to absorb cholesterol is of the same order of magnitude as the estimated hepatic synthesis of cholesterol.