Abstract
This study was carried out to clarify the effects of Phellinus linteus fruit body (PL-F) or mycelia (PL-M) powder on gallstone formation in mice fed a cholesterol-cholate diet. Male ICR mice were fed diets containing 0.5% cholesterol and 0.25% Na-cholate for 21, 28 or 35 days. Animals fed with a cholesterol-cholate diet showed higher incidence of cholesterol gallstone formation than those fed with PL-F or PL-M powder diet, for 21 days test. Gallstone formation in mice was not further suppressed by extending the feeding period to 28 or 35 days. On the other hand, addition of PL-M to the diet caused significantly lower serum atherogenic index and liver total cholesterol (TC) levels than the PL-F or PL-M free diets. Fecal excretion of TC and bile acid (BA) were increased by PL-F or PL-M feeding. With each PL-F or PL-M diet, TC/BA ratio in the gall bladder was lower than that with the control diet. Hot water extract of the PL-M fractions were found to be the most effective in preventing the formation of gallstones in mice fed with cholesterol diets and this effect was almost equal to that of the whole PL-M powder.
