Hypolipidemic Activities of DietaryPleurotus ostreatusin Hypercholesterolemic Rats

Abstract

This work was conducted to investigate dietary supplementation of oyster mushroom fruiting bodies on biochemical and histological changes in hyper and normocholesterolemic rats. Six-week old female Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into three groups of 10 rats each. Feeding a diet containing a 5% powder of Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting bodies to hypercholesterolemic rats reduced plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), total lipid, phospholipids, and LDL/high-density lipoprotein ratio by 30.18, 52.75, 59.62, 34.15, 23.89, and 50%, respectively. Feeding oyster mushrooms also significantly reduced body weight in hypercholesterolemic rats. However, it had no adverse effects on plasma albumin, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, creatinin, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, glucose, total protein, calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, inorganic phosphate, magnesium, or enzyme profiles. Feeding mushroom increased total lipid and cholesterol excretion in feces. The plasma lipoprotein fraction, separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, indicated that P. ostreatus significantly reduced plasma β and pre-β-lipoprotein but increased α-lipoprotein. A histological study of hepatic cells by conventional hematoxylin-eosin and oil red O staining revealed normal findings for mushroom-fed hypercholesterolemic rats. These results suggest that a 5% P. ostreatus diet supplement provided health benefits by acting on the atherogenic lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic rats.

Hyperlipidemic Inhibitory Effects ofPhellinus piniin Rats Fed with a High Fat and Cholesterol Diet

“…pini may inhibit body weight increase induced by a high fat and cholesterol diet. This finding and the prior observation that rats fed a high cholesterol diet supplemented with 5% fruiting body powder of Pleurotus ostreatus displayed 16.89% reduction in body weight gain compared with rats fed a high cholesterol diet [ 25 ] suggest that the supplementation of a high cholesterol diet with mushroom powder could ameliorate obesity. This suggestion is important given that obesity induced by a diet high in fat and cholesterol is related to atherosclerosis, CHD, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes [ 26 ].…”

Modulation of Cholesterol-Related Gene Expression by Dietary Fiber Fractions from Edible Mushrooms

“…Lack of significant influence on cholesterol excretion in feces as compared with the hypercholesterolemic controls was also previously reported in hypercholesterolemic rats given powder of P. ostreatus fruiting bodies. 38 Although these slight changes were not directly associated with jejunal regulation of genes involved in cholesterol absorption or reverse cholesterol transport, Srebf 2 and Fdf t1 overexpression induced by PDF in the jejunum might be related, with a possible enhancing of cholesterol synthesis in the small intestine.…”

Anti-Obesity Effects of Medicinal and Edible Mushrooms

“…ACE inhibitors have been reported to diminish mortality in patients with hypertension [ 85 ]. Recently, investigators have described that Pleurotus ostreatus [ 86 ], P. cystidiosus [ 85 ], P. cornucopiae [ 87 ], Auricularia auricula-judae [ 88 ], Ganoderma leucocontextum [ 65 ], Grifola frondosa [ 89 ], Agaricus bisporus [ 30 ] and Leucopaxillus tricolor [ 29 ] are all ACE inhibitors that decrease hypertension. Wild mushrooms in Nepal that also have ACE inhibitor activities were tested by Bang et al [ 90 ].…”