Biochemical studies of the effect of gossypol consumption on cholesterol and residual glucose in fed and protein-energy deficient rats.

Some biochemical parameters were investigated on gossypol consumption, and were correlated to the level of cholesterol and residual glucose in rat liver. Two groups of animals were used, one group was fed with normal protein diet and the other set was fed with low protein diet. The results show that gossypol produced no apparent biochemical aberration in the liver of normal protein fed and low protein fed rats. It also had no effect on glucose-6-phosphatase and prostate phosphatase. Gossypol consumption had a significant effect on alcohol dehydrogenase. These results indicate no direct involvement of gossypol in sugar uptake but profound influence on the regulation of cholesterol level in the liver.