Cholesterol lowering activity of soy‐derived glyceollins in golden hamster model

Abstract

Soybean is one of the primary agricultural commodities in the United States. Consumption of soy foods is associated with lowering the risk of age‐associated diseases, including cardiovascular disease. The exact components of soy that contribute to these effects remain largely unknown. Glyceollins are major phytoalexin in soybean. We tested the potential effect of glyceollins in lowering circulating cholesterol in a golden hamster model of cardiovascular disease. Male hamsters (n=10 per group) were fed diets containing 1) 36% kcal% fat diet, 2) 36% kcal% fat diet + 25 mg/kg body weight/day glyceollins, or 3) standard chow for 28 days. We measured hepatic total and free cholesterol, hepatic total lipid content, plasma lipoproteins, fecal bile acid and total cholesterol. We found that daily feeding of glyceollins significantly reduced hepatic total and free cholesterol, but not hepatic total lipid content. This effect was associated with lower plasma VLDL, but not changes in plasma LDL and HDL, and fecal bile acid and cholesterol. These results suggested that the cholesterol lowering activity of glyceollins is associated with VLDL metabolisms and not through increased excretion.