The effect of a treadmill running program on the metabolism of cholesterol in liver was studied in male Wistar rats, aged 7 weeks and weighing about 200 g. Rats were exercised on 6 days a week for 8 weeks, running 1, 000 m a day at 15 m/min. The trained rats gave following evidence, as compared with the sedentary control animals:
1. Remarkable lower weight of body and liver
2. Significantly lower level of total and free cholesterol in liver
3. Elevated in vivo incorporation of¹⁴C-acetate and of¹⁴C-mevalonate into liver cholesterol
4. Enhanced incorporation of¹⁴C-mevalonate into cholesterol by liver slice
5. Increased activity of hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase in liver
6. Increase in cholesterol 7 a-hydroxylase activity in liver
The results indicate that the exercise promotes the turnover of cholesterol in liver.

The effect of a treadmill running program on the metabolism of cholesterol in serum and in arterial wall was studied in male Wistar rats, aged 7 weeks and weighing about 200 g- Rats were exercised on 6 days a week for 8 week, running 1, 000 m a day at 15 m/min. The trained rats gave the follwing evidence, as compared with the sedentary control animals:
1. Remarkably lower body weight
2. Significantly lower level of serum cholesterol-total, free, and LDL cholesterol
3. Elevated in vivo incorporation of ¹⁴C-mevalonate into serum cholesterol
4. Enhancement of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase activity in serum
5. Decrease in the amount of cholesterol in arterial wall cells
6. Increase in in vivo incorporation of ¹⁴C-mevalonate into arterial cholesterol.
The results indicate that the excersice promotes the turnover of cholesterol in serum and arterial wall, repressing the accumulation of choleterol ester in arterial wall cells, and a prophylactic effect of the physical training for arteriosclerotic diseases has been suggested.