Red cell modifications in cholesterol-fed rabbits

Adult rabbits were fed with a cholesterol-rich diet for 105 days and for the following 75 days with a conventional diet. The following alterations were noted: 1.1. Plasma cholesterol increased progressively up to 1330 mg% and fell to about normal value 75 days after discontinuing the cholesterol-rich diet. 2.2. The cholesterol content of the red cell membrane increased progressively while the phospholipid phosphorus decreased to about of the control value. 3.3. An interesting finding was that the total n-acetyl neuraminic acid (NAN) content of the cell membrane increased about 4-fold during the cholesterol feeding and with the conventional diet returned to about the original value more rapidly than the membrane cholesterol. The NAN-cholesterol ratio indicated that the increase of membrane-bound NAN was real and not due to an increased membrane surface. 4.4. Cholesterol treatment brought about a marked anemia characterized by typical spur cells with increased volume, haemoglobin content and sedimentation velocity. Red cells showed a significantly decreased osmotic resistance that returned to normal values 75 days after feeding with the conventional diet.