[Acute effects of apple cider vinegar intake on some biochemical risk factors of atherosclerosis in rabbits fed with a high cholesterol diet]

Metabolic changes in postprandial stage, especially after consumption of high fat meal cause atherosclerosis and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Apple cider vinegar is an acidic juice with useful medicinal effects. In this research; we investigated acute effects of apple cider vinegar intake on some of the biochemical atherosclerosis risk factors in high cholesterol fed rabbits. Thirty two male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: normal diet group, high cholesterol diet group [%1cholesterol],%1 cholesterol with 5ml apple cider vinegar group,%1 cholesterol with 10ml apple cider vinegar group. The C-Reactive Protein [CRP], low density lipoprotein [LDL-C], high density lipoprotein [HDL-C], total cholesterol [TC], malondialdehyde [MDA], oxidized-LDL [OxLDL], serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase [SGPT], serum glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase [SGOT], nitrite, nitrate, glucose, fibrinogen triacylglycerol [TG], apolipoprotein A [ApoA1], apolipoprotein B [ApoB100] were all measured before the experiment and three hours after feeding with these treatment diets. In high cholesterol diet fibrinogen, nitrite, glucose, OxLDL, MDA and CRP showed a significant increase compared to normal diet. Significant differences were observed between both groups of apple cider vinegar by fibrinogen in comparison with hypercholesterolemic diet. Using 10ml apple cider vinegar with cholesterolemic diet caused a significant reduction in Ox-LDL, MDA and glucose in comparison with hypercholesterolemic diet. Moreover, the consumption of 5ml apple cider vinegar with cholesterolemic diet caused a significant decrease in LDL-C and TC compared to hypercholesterolemic diet. No significant difference was found between apple cider vinegar taking groups and hypercholesterol diet in CRP, TG ApoA, HDL-C, ApoB, SGOT, SGPT, nitrite and nitrate. The results showed that acute consumption of apple cider vinegar [as an antioxidant] causes significant reduction on some risk factors of atherosclerosis

Comparison of the effect of different levels of garlic powder on the levels of serum cholesterol and triglyceride of two strains broiler chicks [arian and ross]

Garlic [Allium sativum] has been used as a medicinal plant for thousands of years. Epidemiologic studies show an inverse correlation between garlic consumption and progression of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a complex and multifaceted disease and is characterized by several factors such as elevated serum lipids [cholesterol and triglyceride]. In this study, we will investigate the effect of different levels of garlic powder on serum cholesterol and triglyceride of two strains of broiler chicks. Utilizing a completely random design with factorial method, 714 one-day old broiler chicks of two different strains [Ross and Arian] were put on seven different diet regiments for a period of 8 weeks with 3 daily feedings. The chicks in the control group were exclusively put on basal diet and the other groups were fed with o.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1% of garlic powder in the basal diet. After 8 weeks blood sample was collected from the chicks. The level of serum cholesterol and triglyceride of collected blood samples were measured. The collected data was analyzed using Univariate Analysis of Variance followed by Tukey post hoc test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Garlic powder reduced the level of serum cholesterol significantly [p < 0.01] however it did not reduce the level of serum triglyceride. There was a significant difference in reduction of the serum cholesterol level among various diets [p < 0.05]. This reduction was not observed on serum triglyceride level. Also, gender and strain of chicks did not have a significant effect on serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The results show that birds whose diet contained garlic powder, exhibit significant reduction in their serum cholesterol level, however there was no significant change in their serum triglyceride level. Garlic powder did not influence the level of serum lipids among the two strains of subject chicks. It was also observed that the gender or strain of the subject chicks had no bearing on the effect of garlic powder on the level of cholesterol and triglyceride