Type of dietary carbohydrate and liver cholesterol in rats.

Rats were fed semipurified diets containing either sucrose or corn starch (72% or 29% of their total calories). Carbohydrates were exchanged for corn oil in equicaloric amounts. After 28 days, dietary sucrose had caused significantly lower concentrations of liver cholesterol than had starch. The sucrose-induced lowering of liver cholesterol, compared to starch, was amplified by increasing the amount of fat in the diet, at the expense of the carbohydrate source.