Effect of wheat and corn bran and barley and sorghum ß-glucan extracts on the plasma cholesterol level of dietary-induced hypercholesterolemic rats

Hypercholestrolemia leading to cardiovascular diseases are very common problem in pakistan and in most cases it is caused due to insufficient intake of dietary fiber. a study was conducted to evaluate the role of dietary fiber and ß-glucan from major food grains used locally on plasma cholesterol level of dietary-induced hypercholesterolemic rats. insoluble dietary fiber (lignin and cellulose) was extracted from wheat and maize,while ß glucan was extracted from barley and sorghum. male rats (n = 32),weighing 200-220 g were induced with hypercholesterolemia and were equally divided into 5 groups to study the effect of purified diet-ain-93 g,wheat bran feed (wbf),maize bran feed (mbf),sorghum ß glucan feed (sgf) and barley ß glucan feed (bgf) on plasma total cholesterol (tpc),very low density lipoprotein (vldl),low density lipoprotein (ldl),high density lipoprotein (hdl) and triglyceride level. group i comprised control group of induced hypercholesterolemic rats fed on purified diet ain-93 g. group ii comprised induced hypercholesterolemic rats fed on wbf. group iii comprised induced hypercholesterolemic rats fed on mbf,group iv comprised hypercholesterolemic rats reared on sgf and group v comprised hypercholesterolemic rats fed on bgf. both bgf and sgf significantly lowered the tpc in experimental animals compared with purified diet ain-93,wbf and mbf. the vldl,ldl and triglycerides levels were also decreased accordingly while a higher ratio of hdl was recorded in rats fed on bgf and sgf compared to the other feeds. the results suggest that bgf and sgf containing the soluble ß-glucan extract can reduce tpc,vldl,ldl,and triglycerides and higher hdl. copyright 2017 zoological society of pakistan.