抄録
To examine the effects of sodium propionate on serum cholesterol levels, rats were given sodium propionate intravenously and intraperitonealy. Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were kept on a cholesterol-free semisynthetic diet for 2 weeks, fasted, and given 400μl of saline solution intravenously supplemented with 0.01-10 mg sodium pro-pionate. Three hours after injection of 1 mg of sodium propionate, the serum total-cholesterol level was significantly reduced (85.4±4.0 mg/dl) compared with its starting level (102±3.4 mg/dl), with the reducing effect lasting for 24 h. The intensity of the reduction increased proportionately with increased sodium propionate concentrations from 0, 01 to 1 mg. Next, to evaluate the influence of continual sodium propionate admini-stration on serum cholesterol levels, 6-week-old male rats were implanted with an osmotic pump intraperitonealy (ALZET R Model 2ML2, pumping rate: 5.0 μl/h; duration: 14 days; reservoir volume: 2, 000μl). At day 14, serum total-cholesterol levels were reduced by continual sodium pro-pionate administration at both 0.12 and 1.2 mg/day. The maximum percentage change in the serum total-cholesterol level was 78.5±6.7% of its starting level (111±7.1 mg/dl), observed at 1.2 mg/day at day 7. These results indicate that sodium propionate can reduce serum total-cholesterol levels in vivo.
