Abstract
Summary
Rats were fed for four weeks on a basal fiber-free diet (B) or the same diet augmented with 1% cholesterol (BC). Diosgenin, tigogenin, hecogenin, β-sitosterol and their acetates (1%) were added to diet BC. Liver cholesterol and triglyceride levels of rats fed BC were significantly elevated compared to rats fed diet B (472 and 165%, respectively). The increases in liver cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly inhibited by all eight test compounds. When all rats were fed a single dose of [4-14C]cholesterol, appearance of isotope in serum and liver of animals fed the various steroids was up to 61% less than in rats fed diet BC. The acetates of hecogenin, tigogenin and β-sitosterol were more effective than the unesterified steroids in inhibiting cholesterol accumulation in liver.
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