Dietary lectin has a hypocholesterolemic activity in rats fed a cholesterol-enriched diet

Abstract

Dietary lectins have been established to lead to depressed activities of some intestinal enzymes, growth retardation and even death for experimental animals, particularly when consumed in large quantities. ln this study, we examined the effect of dietary lectin (concanavalin A) on serum and hepatic levels of cholesterol in rats fed a 0.5% cholesterol containing diet at doses that did not affect food intake and body weight. Dietary lectin inhibited the increase in the hepatic and serum levels of cholesterol in the cholesterol-feeding rats. Lectin-mediated decrease in the serum cholesterol was mainly due to the reduction of very low-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein fractions. but a high-density lipoprotein fraction was not at all affected by dietary lectin.These results suggest that the dietary lectin might be an effective hypocholesterolemic factor.