Oyster mushroom ( Pleurotus ostreatus) accelerates the plasma clearance of low-density and high-density lipoproteins in rats

Abstract

In Wistar rats fed after weaning a semisynthetic diet containing 0.3% cholesterol (C), the addition of 4% dried whole oyster mushroom ( Pleurotus ostreatus) led to a reduced level of serum and liver C at the end of the 10 th week of the experiment by 25, resp. 33%. The level of serum triacylglycerols was not influenced by the mushroom, but was significantly reduced by 13% in liver. The decrease in serum C level is a consequence of the decreased C concentration in very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and in low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Content of C in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) was not influenced by the mushroom. Dietary Pleurotus ostreatus increased the fractional turnover rate of LDL (by 28%) and HDL (by 31%) as determined by the analysis of decay curves of 125I-labelled lipoproteins. The increase in rate of LDL and HDL catabolism is one of the decisive mechanisms which mediates the hypocholesterolemic effect of mushroom in rat.