Abstract
Fructo-oligosaccharide, isomalto-oligosaccharide and lactulose have been increasingly used as foods for specified health uses in Japan. At the same time, Agaricus Blazei Murill has been shown to have many beneficial effects on health. However, there is little information concerning the safety of these food ingredients under disease conditions. In this study, the effects of these health food ingredients on diabetes induced by streptozotocin and hypercholesterolemia in rats were examined. Male Wistar rats were injected with streptozotocin (80mg/kg body weight), and 16 d later the rats were fed the experimental diets containing 5% oligosaccharides or 1% Agaricus Blazei Murill for 10 d. The serum components including glucose, cholesterol, A/G ratio and creatinine were measured after 10 d feeding (Exp.1). In another experiment, Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on 1% cholesterol and 0.25% sodium cholate for 10 d, and then the rats were fed the experimental diets containing 5% oligosaccharides or 1% Agaricus Blazei Murill for 10 d. Then, the serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride and liver cholesterol were measured (Exp.2). None of the experimental materials changed the serum glucose concentration, total cholesterol level, A/G ratio and creatinine concentration compared with the control group in Exp.1. In Exp.2, these health food ingredients did not change serum and liver cholesterol levels. On the other hand, serum triglyceride concentration in the rats fed with Agaricus Blazei Murill was significantly decreased compared with the control group. These results suggest that these dietary supplements did not deteriorate the diabetes and hypercholesterolemia under these experimental conditions, neither but had any obvious toxicity.
