Effect of Chlorophyll on Plasma Lipids in Rats

Abstract

The effect of chlorophyll on plasma and liver lipids was studied in rats fed on diets containing 0, 0.2 and 0.5% cholesterol. A mixture of chlorophyll a and b extracted from alfalfa was fed to rats for 3 weeks. The lipid composition of plasma was determined by Iatroscan TLC-FID. Chlorophyll at the dietary level of 0.1 and 0.2% significantly decreased the levels of cholesterolester, free cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipid in plasma when the diet did not contain cholesterol. The plasma cholesterol-lowering effect of chlorophyll tended to decline as the dietary level of cholesterol increased from 0 to 0.5%. Chlorophyll had no effect on the level of plasma cholesterolester in rats fed the 0.5% cholesterol diet. The total lipids and total cholesterol in liver remarkably increased with the increase of dietary cholesterol. These lipids in the liver of rats given chlorophyll also tended to be lower than in the control rats. These data demonstrate that chlorophyll has hypocholesterolemic action in rats when fed at a level as low as 0.1 %.