Cholesterol-lowering Effect of Two Types of Phytosterol Nanoparticles

Objective:To investigate the cholesterol-lowering effect of two types of phytosterol nanoparticles on hyperlipidemic mice. Methods:The mice were divided into 8 groups randomly after the successful establishment of the high-fat diet(HFD)-induced hyperlipidemia model:normal group,hyperlipidemic model group,positive control group,phytosterol(PS)group,phytosterol nanoparticles(PNP)group,nanoparticles without phytosterol(NP)group,chitosan-modified phytosterol nanoparticles(CS-PNP)group,and chitosan-modified nanoparticles without phytosterol(CS-NP)group. The intervention of different samples continued for 4 weeks. The cholesterol-lowering effect of two types of phytosterol nanoparticles was determined by analyzing the average body weight and the daily food intake of the mice,the serum biochemical indices,the organ indices,the hepatic fat contents,the sterol contents in the feces and histological observation of liver slices. Results:The PNP and CS-PNP had no significant effect on the average body weight and the daily food intake of mice(p>0.05). The hepatic indexes of hyperlipidemia mice in the PNP and CS-PNP groups were significantly decreased and the cardiac and splenic indexes were markedly increasing compared to the hyperlipidemic model group(p<0.05).There had no significant difference in the pulmonary and nephritic indexes(p>0.05). The PNP and CS-PNP dramatically decreased the TG,TC,and LDL-C levels,and increased the HDL-C level in serum(p<0.05). The PNP and CS-PNP were the most potent in reducing the TG and TC contents in the mice liver(p<0.05). The histopathological observation on the liver of the mice showed that PNP and CS-PNP were the most potent to reduce hepatic steatosis in hyperlipidemia mice(p<0.05). Conclusion:The PNP and CS-PNP markedly reduced HFD-induced dyslipidemia,hypercholesterolemia and hepatic steatosis in mice.