Effects of lecithin ingestion on plasma and lymph lipoproteins of normo- and hyperlipemic rats.

Rats were fed low- or high-cholesterol diets in which all fatty acids were derived from either polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine (PC) or safflower oil (SO) for 15 days. In hypercholesterolemic rats, plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol esters were increased by dietary PC compared with SO. In normolipemic rats, PC administered either in the diet or by short-term, maximal-rate intraduodenal infusion had no effect on aortic or portal plasma lipoprotein lipids or on mesenteric lymph and plasma lipoproteins compared with SO. The phosphoryl component of PC, when absorbed by the enteral route, may influence lipoprotein profiles in hypercholesterolemic rats but has no effect in normolipemic rats.