Hypocholesterolemic Effects of Lactic Acid-Fermented Soymilk on Rats Fed a High Cholesterol Diet
1
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of Human Environmental Sciences, Mukogawa Women’s University, 6-46 Ikebiraki-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8558, Japan
2
Food Science and Nutrition Major, Graduate School of Human Environmental Sciences, Mukogawa Women’s University, 6-46 Ikebiraki-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8558, Japan
3
Research Institute, Marusan-Ai Co., Ltd., 1 Aza-Arashita, Nikki-cho, Okazaki, Aichi 444-2193, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2012, 4(9), 1304-1316; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu4091304
Received: 16 July 2012 / Revised: 31 August 2012 / Accepted: 5 September 2012 / Published: 18 September 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Lipids: Sources, Function and Metabolism)
The effect of fermented soymilk on rats fed a high cholesterol diet was investigated to clarify the cholesterol-lowering function. Male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 7 weeks were fed a control diet (1% cholesterol, high cholesterol diet), high cholesterol diet containing 11.7% fermented soymilk diet (5% soy protein as final concentration, F-5), or high cholesterol diet containing 23.4% fermented soymilk diet (10% soy protein as final concentration, F-10) for 5 weeks. The liver weight and fat mass were decreased by the ingestion of fermented soymilk. The hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol levels in the F-5 and F-10 groups were significantly lowered compared to those in the control group. The plasma total cholesterol level of the F-10 group was significantly decreased. The expression of SREBP-2, a cholesterol synthesis-related gene, was significantly decreased in liver of the F-5 group, but the expression of CYP7a1, a cholesterol catabolism-related gene, was significantly increased. These results suggest that fermented soymilk can modulate the cholesterol metabolism in rats fed a high cholesterol diet.
Keywords:
fermented soymilk; cholesterol; lipid metabolism