Abstract
The effects of DSA (depolymerized sodium alginate with a low molecular weight) on the serum lipid level were investigated in healthy women with a high cholesterol intake. The subjects in the test group were given two bottles of a test drink (containing 2 g of DSA per bottle) per day for 3 weeks. The subjects in the control group were given apparently the same drink without DSA. Blood samples were collected 4 times, the first 2 days before the experiment and then weekly during the 3-week experiment. The serum total cholesterol (T-Ch) level of the control group tended to increase, although there was no significant difference in T-Ch level between the test and control groups. The T-Ch level for 6 subjects in the control group with T-Ch of more than 180 mg/dl from the pre-experimental measurement, however, increased with the last two measurements. In contrast there was no change in the T-Ch level of eight equivalent subjects in the test group. The increment in T-Ch concentration due to a dietary excess of cholesterol was significantly suppressed by the concomitant intake of DSA. These results suggest that DSA stimulated cholesterol excretion to protect from an increase in T-Ch due to the dietary excess of cholesterol, especially in those subjects with a relatively high level of serum cholesterol.
