American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 17, 83-87, Copyright © 1965 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Serum Lipids of Men Fed Diets Differing in Protein Quality and Linoleic Acid Content

¹ From the School of Public Health, University of California and the Veterans Administration Center, Los Angeles, California

When wheat gluten was substituted for a casein-lactalbumin mixture as the chief source of nitrogen in an experimental diet, less nitrogen was retained in four of five subjects tested. With six subjects studied and under the experimental conditions employed, this treatment had no significant effect on the serum content of total lipids, sterol esters, glycerides, phospholipids or unesterified fatty acids. This situation pertained whether the diet contained 12 per cent of linoleic acid or 40 per cent of linoleate as fat. However, serum cholesterol levels were lower and the per cent of linoleate in the sterol ester, glyceride and phospholipid serum fractions was increased when the subjects were fed diets containing the larger amount of the polyunsaturated fatty acid with either type of protein.