Narezushi extract was separated into peptide and nonpeptide fractions by ion-exchange column chromatography. The narezushi extract and fractions were administered to rats in a diet enriched with lipid and cholesterol for 30 days. In the narezushi extract and nonpeptide fraction groups, increases in triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in the plasma and accumulation of total lipids and triglyceride in the liver were suppressed, while both lipid and cholesterol fecal excretion were increased. In the peptide fraction group, these effects were also observed, except for the suppressing effect on liver lipid accumulation. Narezushi extract administration tended to increase fecal bile acids and promoted the activity of cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of bile acid from cholesterol in the liver. However, the activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterol synthesis system in the liver, decreased due to regulation by the feedback of lipid transportation from diet to the liver. These results suggest that both the increase in cholesterol and bile acid fecal excretion and the promotion of cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase activities are related to the hypocholesterolemic effects of narezushi extract. Amino acids and organic acids, which are abundantly contained in the nonpeptide fraction, seemed to have more intensive hypocholesterolemic effects than peptides existing in the peptide fraction.