Anticholesterolic Effects of Unsaponifiable Fractions of Vegetable Oils in Chicks: 1. Short-Term Effects of Soy Sterols

Abstract

PLANT sterols constitute a naturally occurring group of compounds with a remarkable activity in counteracting the rise in cholesterol levels in blood and/or livers which follows the ingestion of cholesterol-rich diets by experimental animals. This is usually referred to as “hypocholesterolemic” effect, though the term “antihypercholesterolemic,” used by Boorman and Fisher (1966), constitutes a more suitable description. Strictly speaking, however, these terms refer to blood changes only and cannot be applied to tissue cholesterol without violating accepted nomenclature. We shall use the expression “anticholesterolic” in connection with the above-defined effects of phytosterols, so as to avoid any restriction in meaning to blood cholesterol only.Since Peterson’s (1951) first description of anticholesterolic action of soy sterols in chicks, numerous reports involving chicks (Peterson et al., 1952Peterson et al., 1953; Diller et al., 1960; Reiner et al., 1962; Fisher et al., 1963; Pick et al., 1965; Konlande and Fisher, 1969; Bartov et al., 1969)…