Pigs fed cholesterol neonatally have increased cerebrum cholesterol as young adults

Sixty-eight female neonatal pigs selected for seven (Experiment 1) or eight (Experiment 2) generations for high (HG) or low (LG) plasma cholesterol we re used to test the hypothesis that neonatal dietary cholesterol fed during the first 4 or 8 wk of postnatal life increases the cholesterol content of the cerebrum in young adulthood following free access to a high-fat (15%), high-cholesterol (0.5%) diet from 8 to 20 or 24 wk of age. Pigs were remov ed from their dams at 1 d of age and given free access to a sow-milk replac er diet containing 9.5% coconut fat and 0 or 0.5% cholesterol. All pigs (ex cept four HG and four LG pigs in Experiment 2, which were deprived of chole sterol throughout the study) were fed the high-fat, high-cholesterol diet f rom 8 wk to termination at 20 or 24 wk of age. Cerebrum weight and choleste rol concentration were higher in pigs fed cholesterol neonatally than in th ose deprived of cholesterol neonatally in both experiments, but weight and cholesterol concentration were unaffected by genetic line. Cholesterol conc entrations in longissimus and semitendinosus muscles and in subcutaneous fa t were unaffected by diet or genetic line. We conclude that dietary cholest erol deprivation during the first 4 to 8 wk of life in piglets is associate d with lower cholesterol concentration and total content in the young adult cerebrum than in pigs supplemented with cholesterol in early life. These d ata support previous observations and suggest the possibility of a metaboli c need for neonatal dietary cholesterol in normal brain development.