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Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 27, No. 4, 476-484 (2008)
Published by the American College of Nutrition

Lack of Effect of Sugar Cane and Sunflower Seed Policosanols on Plasma Cholesterol in Rabbits

Karen J. Murphy, PhD, David A. Saint, PhD and Peter R.C. Howe, PhD

Nutritional Physiology Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia (K.J.M., P.R.C.H.)
Discipline of Physiology, School of Molecular & Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide (D.A.S.), Adelaide, SA 5001

Address correspondence to: Dr Karen J. Murphy, Nutritional Physiology Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, AUSTRALIA. E-mail: karen.murphy{at}unisa.edu.au

Objective: To evaluate the potential for a mixture of policosanol extracted from sunflower oil (SFP) to lower blood cholesterol levels in comparison to sugar cane policosanol (SCP) in rabbits.

Design: Twenty three Semi-lop rabbits were blocked into three groups matched on fasting plasma cholesterol levels then randomly assigned to one of three parallel treatment arms: Control (Vehicle 28.6% sunflower oil/70% water/1.4% emulsifier) n = 7; SFP, 100 mg/kg in vehicle, n = 8; SCP, 100 mg/kg in vehicle, n = 8. Rabbits were gavaged once every two days for four weeks. Blood was collected and analysed for plasma lipids.

Results: Total cholesterol, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol increased significantly following SCP supplementation relative to the control. SFP supplementation had no effect. Triglyceride levels decreased significantly following all dietary treatments (P < 0.05), possibly due to the emulsifier.

Conclusion: Dietary supplementation of normocholesterolemic rabbits with policosanol from sunflower oil does not appear to have any cholesterol lowering effect. A similar lack of efficacy observed with the commercial SCP product which we evaluated raises doubts about the purported cholesterol-lowering efficacy of these products, as reflected in the current literature.

Key words: policosanol, sugar cane, sunflower seed, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL

Abbreviations: BW = body weight • HDL = high density lipoprotein cholesterol • LDL = low density lipoprotein cholesterol • non-HDL = non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol • PGPR = polyglycerol polyricinoleate • SCP = sugar cane policosanol • SFP = sunflower seed oil policosanol • TC = total cholesterol • TG = triglycerides • ADP = adenosine diphosphate • AA = arachidonic acid • TBARS = thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay • MDA = malonyldialdehyde • Apo AI = apolipoprotein AI • RCT = randomized controlled trial






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