EFFECTS OF DIETARY CALCIUM ON CONCENTRATIONS OF LIPIDS, GLUCOSE AND INSULIN IN MALE SPRAGUE-DAWELY RATS

• Main Authors: Jan Mohammd Malekzadeh, Ali Keshavarz, Feridon Siassi, Mehri Kadkhodaei, Mohammad Reza Eshraghian, Ahmad Reza Dorosti-Motlagh, Asghar Aliehpoor, Maryam Chamari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vesnu Publications 2010-12-01
• Series: ARYA Atherosclerosis
• Online Access: http://arya.mui.ac.ir/index.php/arya/article/view/96

<div><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="90%" align="left"><tbody><tr><td width="485" valign="top"><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Abstract </strong></p> <p><strong>INTRODUCTION:</strong><strong> </strong>A number of experimental studies have shown that dietary calcium may help improve hypercholesterolemia induced by high-cholesterol/high-fat diets through saponifying cholesterol/fat in the intestine. There is little evidence showing the effect of calcium in a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet on the lipid profile. We evaluated the effect of different levels of dietary calcium, in a cholesterol-free/low-fat diet on serum cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose and insulin, as well as fecal excretion of lipids.</p> <p><strong>methods:</strong><strong> </strong>Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawely rats were randomly divided to receive three levels of dietary calcium (0.2, 0.5 and 1.2 % W/W) for 10 weeks. Finally, the rats were decapitated and their truncal blood was sampled for biochemical analysis. Fecal fat excretion, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and serum insulin were measured. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was calculated using the Friedwald equation.</p> <p><strong>results:</strong> Serum cholesterol and LDL&nbsp;cholesterol of rats receiving a high-calcium diet were significantly lower than those of the other two groups (P&lt;0.05), but serum triglycerides, HDL&nbsp;cholesterol, glucose and insulin and fecal fat excretion were not statistically different in the three groups (P&gt;0.05).</p> <p><strong>CONCLUSIONS:</strong> Our findings suggest that, even with a low-fat low-cholesterol diet, calcium has hypocholesterolemic effects, i.e. there may be hypocholesterolemic mechanisms, other than intestinal saponification of cholesterol and/or fatty acids, including endogenous mechanisms for dietary calcium.</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p></td></tr> <tr><td width="485" valign="top"><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Keywords:</strong><strong> </strong>Dietary calcium, serum cholesterol, serum LDL cholesterol, serum triglycerides, serum glucose, serum insulin, fecal fat.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>