Previous studies have indicated that dietary intake of sugar may lower bile acid production, and may promote cholesterol gallstone formation in humans. We studied the influence of dietary sucrose on cholesterol and bile acid metabolism in the rat. In two different experiments, rats received high-sucrose diets. In the first, 60% of the weight of standard rat chow was replaced with sucrose (high-sucrose diet). In the second, rats received a diet either containing 65% sucrose (controlled high-sucrose diet) or 65% complex carbohydrates, in order to keep other dietary components constant. Bile acid synthesis, evaluated by measurements of the serum marker 7-alpha-hydroxy-4-cholesten-3-one (C4) and of the hepatic mRNA expression of Cyp7a1, was markedly reduced by the high-sucrose diet, but not by the controlled high-sucrose diet. Both diets strongly reduced the hepatic - but not the intestinal - mRNA levels of Abcg5 and Abcg8. The differential patterns of regulation of bile acid synthesis induced by the two sucrose-enriched diets indicate that it is not sugar per se in the high-sucrose diet that reduces bile acid synthesis, but rather the reduced content of fiber or fat. In contrast, the marked reduction of hepatic Abcg5/8 observed is an effect of the high sugar content of the diets. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.