Three groups of male rats were fed diets containing the bile acid sequestrant colestipol hydrochloride (1%), neomycin sulfate (0.25%), or basic diet during the test. After 15 days, each rat was injected IV with 3.9 muCi cholesterol-1,2(-3)H complexed with serum lipoproteins; specific radioactivity of the total serum cholesterol was measured at several time intervals for a period of 7 weeks. Computer analysis of the data indicated that the turnover of cholesterol could best be fitted by a three-pool model. In pool 1, colestipol HC1 caused a significant increase in production rate (10.09 to 15.96 mg/day) and the excretion rate constant (0.53 to 0.79 day-1) of cholesterol without significantly altering the size of the pool or serum cholesterol concentrations. These results are compatible with an agent capable of binding bile acids in the rat but do not cause a decrease of the sterol pool because of an adequate compensatory increase in cholesterol biosynthesis. Neomycin SO4 caused a significant reduction in serum cholesterol (9%) without altering turnover parameters and apparently exerts its hypocholesterolemia by some mechanism other than bile acid sequestration.