Effect of Candicidin on Plasma Cholesterol and Avian Atherosclerosis 1

Summary

Day-old cockerels were fed a control or a candicidin-containing diet (0.01%) with or without cholesterol in the form of whole egg powder. The birds were maintained for 18-27 months on their respective regimens and plasma cholesterol was measured at different intervals. At 6 and at 18 months cholesterol-fed birds were killed and the coronary arteries and the aorta evaluated histologically for atherosclerosis. The birds on the cholesterol-free diets were killed after 27 months and similarly evaluated. Initially, in the cholesterolfed birds, plasma cholesterol was drastically reduced below that of the controls by candicidin feeding. However, the plasma cholesterol level of the controls then decreased, and the differences in cholesterol concentration between candicidin-fed and control birds became smaller or nonexistent. No differences in plasma cholesterol occurred at any time in the cocks on the cholesterol-free diet. A lower incidence of coronary artery lesions and a lower severity and incidence of aortic atherosclerosis was observed in the candicidin-treated cocks, regardless of the presence or absence of dietary cholesterol.

We would like to express our thanks to Dr. I. Kwon for the bile acid analyses. We gratefully acknowledge the gift of candicidin by the S. B. Penick Company, New York, NY.