Biometfical genetic analysis of serum Cholesterol response and basal serum HDL cholesterol level in the rabbit

The inheritance of the susceptibility for dietary cholesterol (serum cholesterol response) and of basal serum HDL cholesterol level in the rabbit have been studied by measuring serum total cholesterol levels and HDL cholesterol levels in animalsfrom crosses between hyperresponding and hyporesponding inbred strains. The serum cholesterol response and basal serum HDL cholesterol levels of the resulting six populations (the two parental strains, Fl-hybrid, two baekerosses and F7)were subjected to a biomedical genetic analysis to determine the number of loci involved and the (narrow sense) heritability 0f the two traits. The study revealed that 30% of the individual variation of the serum cholesterol response is under geneticcontrol and that 10 to 16 loci may be involved. The heritability for basal serum HDL cholesterol levels was 50 to 80%, whereas two to five loci may be involved in regulating the basal serum HDL cholesterol level in rabbits