Effect of the type of dietary fat on cholesterolemia in rabbits fed brewer's yeast / Efecto de la grasa dietaria sobre el colesterol del plasma en conejos alimentados con levadura de cerveza

ABSTRACT

To determine the effects of the kind of dietary fat on cholesterolemia in rabbits fed with brewer's yeast, diets based on soybean protein isolate or on a mixture of soybean protein isolate and brewer's yeast (11) were used. They were combined with corn oil and coconut oil in four balanced, cholesterol-free diets. Twenty four rabbits were fed with 79 grams of diet per day during 3 weeks. After 14 hours of fasting on the 22nd day, blood samples from the marginal aer vein were collected, animals were sacrified and their livers dissected. there were no significant differences in the final plasma concentrations of the total lipids, tryglycerides, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and (low density lipoprotein + very low density lipoprotein)-cholesterol, even though groups fed yeast presented the highest values. Liver lipids were not affected by dietary treatment. However, when comparing the final plasma cholesterol with initial cholesterol, a significant increase in the groups which consumed yeast with corn oil (48 mg/dL) and coconut consumed soybean protein with corn oil (21 mg/dL) and coconut oil (36 mg/dL). The two-way variance analysis of these data showed that there was no fat- protein interaction and the hypercholesterolemic effects observed were associated with brewer's yeast consumption