Objective In order to study the mechanism of cholesterol gallstone formation through rabbit model which was induced by high cholesterol diet (HCD)Methods the activities of the high density lipoprotein receptor (HDLR) and low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) of hepatocytes were investigated. Results The results were as follows: The HDLR activity increased significantly after taking HCD for one week, at the same time, the LDLR activity only increased slightly. Thereafter, the activities of HDLR and LDLR all decreased markedly. As the time of animals taking HCD went on, serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and hepatic cholesterol increased, but bile acids of biliary tract decreased gradually. Conclusion The results suggest that the changes of HDLR and LDLR activities of hepatocytes had no significant effect on bile cholesterol and the decreased HDLR and LDLR activities may cause the reduction some of substrate for bile acids synthesise and play an important role in the formation of gallstone.