Combined Lowering Effect of Phytosterol Esters and Tea Extracts on Lipid Profiles in SD Rats

The present study was conducted to determine the effect of oral administration of phytosterol esters (PS, 308 mg/kg·d), tea extracts (TE, 300 mg/kg·d) and their combination on serum, liver and fecal lipids of SD rats induced by high-cholesterol diets. After 12 weeks, animals were sacrificed and followed immediately with the collection of blood and organ samples. Results showed that PS and TE alone retained its own lipid-lowering profiles. The combination of PS and TE decreased both serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and produced an additive effect on serum LDL-C level reduction. Most importantly was that PS+TE produced a complementary effect in suppressing body weight and fat mass, promoting fecal lipid excretion and reducing liver weight and liver lipids, suggesting the combination was more effective than either PS or TE alone. These results demonstrated that PS+TE could effectively prevent the formation of obesity, single and mixed hyperlipidemia without the observation of any toxic effect. Therefore, PS+TE could be considered as a potential nutraceutical or functional ingredient to prevent cardiovascular diseases and its related complications.