Abstract
Taurine showed a strong hypocholestrolemic effect in hypercholesterolemic WKY and SHRSP induced by the feeding of a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet. The hypocholesterolemic effect, which was more remarkable in SHRSP than in WKY, was mainly due to suppression of the marked increase of cholesterol, apo B and apo E in the VLDL and IDL fractions, and to prevention of cholesterol accumulation in the liver. In addition, a recovery in the HDL fraction of SHRSP, associated with increases of cholesterol and apo A-I, was observed after taurine treatment, while, in the HDL fraction of WKY, the decreased apo E content was reduced further and no effective change was observed.
