title: Hypolipidemic effect of diet supplementation with bacterial levan in cholesterol-fed rats.
abstract: Levan polysaccharide, a type of fructan, has been shown to have industrial applications as a new industrial gum in the fields of cosmetics, foods like dietary fiber and pharmaceutical goods. The objective of this current study was to investigate the possible hypolipidemic and antioxidative effects of levan in rats fed with a high-cholesterol diet. Animals were allocated into four groups of six rats each: a normal diet group (Control), normal rats received levan (L), a high-cholesterol diet group (Chol) and a high-cholesterol diet with a daily dose of levan equivalent to 5%. Treated hypercholesterolemic rats were administrated with levan in drinking water through oral gavage for 60 days. After the treatment period, the plasma antioxidant enzymes and lipid profiles were determined. Our results show that treatment with levan polysaccharide positively changed plasma antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid profiles (total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides) in cholesterol-rats, and thus may have potential hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects. Levan could protect against oxidative stress linked atherosclerosis and decrease the atherogenic index.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Karima Srih
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Belghith
authors.forename: Imen
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dahech
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hamden
authors.forename: Abdelfattah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feki
authors.forename: Hafedh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mejdoub
authors.forename: Hafedh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Belghith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004063:Digestion; D005630:Fructans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005630:Fructans; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; C072599:levan; D002784:Cholesterol