ABSTRACT
Hypercholesterolemia is one of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. To elucidate the correlation between hypercholesterolemia and deficiency of phosphatidylcholine, animal experimental study was conducted. Wistar rats aged 8 weeks were randomly distributed into three groups: control group (standardized normal diet), high-fat diet group, and phosphatidylcholine-supplemented high-fat diet group. Total plasma cholesterol and SHMT activity were measured in the liver of rats by using spectrophotometry.
After 8 weeks, total plasma cholesterol was 72.77 mg% and SHMT activity was 68.93 units/mg in the control group. In the high-fat diet group, total plasma cholesterol was 94.72 mg% and SHMT activity was 150.07 units/mg. After supplementation of phosphatidylcholine, total plasma cholesterol was 78.47 mg% and SHMT activity was 80.97 units/mg. From these results, it can be concluded that phosphatidylcholine supplementation can protect rats from high-fat diet induced-hypercholesterolemia.
Keywords: Hypercholesterolemia, phosphatidylcholine, Serine hydroxymethyltransferase enzyme
