Abstract
Most in vivo cholesterol oxidation products (COP) are considered to originate from ingestion of processed foods. Although dietary COP have various deleterious activities, their functions have not been completely elucidated, and information about them is limited in comparison with in vitro data. In this study using rats, we examined the deleterious activities of COP in vivo. The absorption rate of dietary COP was approximately 35%, and dietary COP lowered hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis and catabolism, while promoting linoleic acid desaturation. These alterations of lipid metabolism by dietary COP were more marked in immature than in mature rats. Therefore, dietary COP may disturb age-related changes in lipid metabolism, and may also perturb various immune functions by affecting immunoglobulin production by lymphocytes and the release of histamine from peritoneal exudate cells. However, dietary soybean protein, soybean polysaccharides, milk whey protein, procyanidin, and catechin alleviated the deleterious effects of dietary COP. Thus, dietary COP have biologically detrimental effects on health; however, their deleterious actions may be prevented by suitable selection and combination of dietary components.
