Amaranth Oil Increased Fecal Excretion of Bile Acid but Had No Effect in Reducing Plasma Cholesterol in Hamsters

Abstract

Hamsters were fed for 4 weeks on four different diets: control (C) (balanced diet containing 20 % corn oil as the lipid source), hypercholesterolemic (H) (identical to C but containing 12 % coconut oil, 8 % corn oil and 0.1 % cholesterol as the lipid source), amaranth oil (A) (identical to H without corn oil but with amaranth oil), and squalene (S) (identical to H but admixed with squalene in the ratio found in amaranth oil). There were no significant differences in lipid profile, and in the cholesterol excreted in the animals' feces from amaranth oil (A) and squalene (S) groups. Fecal excretion of bile acids was greater in the amaranth oil (A) and squalene groups (S) as compared to the other groups. The scores of steatosis and parenchymal inflammation observed in the amaranth oil (A) and squalene groups (S) were superior to the ones observed in the other groups. Our findings demonstrated that amaranth oil, and its component squalene, increased the excretion of bile acids but did not have a hypocholesterolemic effect in hamsters fed on a diet containing high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.

The Effect of Unsaponifiable Fraction from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate on Lipid Profile of Hypercholesterolaemia Rats

“…Some studies showed that squalene from animal and vegetable have different effect on cholesterol metabolisms. Animal squalene such as shark squalene has hypercolesterolaemic property, meanwhile vegetable squalene such as amaranth squalene shows otherwise [19,20,21,22]. This study showed that palm squalene in USF had hypocholesterolaemic effects, as well as squalene supplement also lowered total cholesterol, although the effect was not less effective compared to squalene in USF.…”

“…Some studies showed that there were inconsistent results on LDL cholesterol level after squalene intake [21,22]. Long-term study showed that the serum concentration of total cholesterol was increased by the large squalene intake (1 g/d) because of the augmented number of LDL particles with low surface lipids (free cholesterol and phospholipids), possibly a consequence of increased cholesterol synthesis from squalene [38].…”

“…Squalene as one of bioactive compounds in PFAD, also has cholesterol lowering property [18] by increasing fecal excretion of bile acid [19,20,21]. In contrary, other study showed that squalene increase cholesterol level [22], due to the increasing extent of cholesterol synthesis [23].…”

Squalene modulates fatty acid metabolism: Enhanced EPA/DHA in obese/diabetic mice (KK‐Ay) model

“…These have led the scientific community to suggest exercising caution with regards to squalene. On the other hand, recently, deCastro et al [26] and Smith et al [27] have reported that squalene had no effect on plasma lipid parameters; while, enhancement of glucose-induced insulin secretion and insulin content indicating its possible hypoglycemic effect is also reported [28].…”

“…KK‐A y mouse model was chosen as it would reflect better any effect of squalene feeding on lipid related parameters as this model responds to altered metabolic status with rapid development of obesity and diabetes. Based on previous studies evaluating other effects of squalene that reported dosages varying from 1 to 4% , a 2% squalene dosage was employed in our study. Against this background, our study was designed to analyze the effect of orally administered squalene (2% of diet) on the fatty acid profile in the presence of n‐3 fatty acids precursor (ALA) responsible for EPA/DHA formation.…”