Abstract
Male New Zealand white rabbits were made hypercholesterolemic by feeding an atherogenic diet (0.5% cholesterol, 3% peanut oil, and 3% coconut oil) with and without β-carotene (25 mg/kg body weight given intravenously twice weekly) and/or α-tocopherol (0.5% of diet) for 8 weeks. Rabbits treated with combined β-carotene and α-tocopherol had significantly lower cholesterol contents in liver, heart, and plasma than control animals; heart and plasma cholesterol contents were also significantly lower in animals treated with β-carotene than in controls. Treatment with both antioxidants significantly increased triglyceride contents of liver and triceps, but not heart and plasma. Rabbits given both β-carotene and α-tocopherol had significantly lower values for tissue α-tocopherol than animals treated with α-tocopherol only, and significantly higher values for tissue β-carotene than animals treated with β-carotene only. Atherosclerotic lesion areas in the aortic arch, thoracic aorta, and abdominal aorta were positively correlated (r = 0.36-0.42) with plasma cholesterol concentrations and negatively correlated (r = -0.340.60) with plasma, liver, triceps, and heart α-tocopherol levels. Moderate levels of α-tocopherol supplementation with or without β-carotene may have a beneficial effect on tissue cholesterol contents and on the development of aortic atherosclerotic lesions in rabbits fed an atherogenic diet.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 344-350 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1998 |
Keywords
- Atherosclerotic lesions
- Cholesterol
- Triglycerides
- α-tocopherol
- β-carotene
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Nutrition and Dietetics
- Clinical Biochemistry