Verification of hypocholesterolemic effect of fermented milk on human subjects with different cholesterol levels

The possible hypocholesterolemic effect of acidophilus milk was evaluated on 27 human subjects having different levels of serum cholesterol, i.e.2.0 (group C1), 2.0-2.2 (C2), 2.2-2.5 (C3) and 2.5 g/L (C4). The acidophilus low-fat milk was fed to each volunteer at the rate of 200 mL/d for 20 d. A significant decrease in average total cholesterol was found in the C2 and C3 groups, amounting to 21 and 12 %, respectively. The average LDL cholesterol decreased in C2, C3 and C4 groups by 0.54, 0.26 and 0.46 g/L, respectively. In the C2 group, the LDL/HDL and total/HDL ratio was also reduced by 1.4 and 1.3, respectively. In the C1 group, serum triacylglycerols and VLDL cholesterol showed a significant increase of 0.53 and 0.11 g/L, respectively. Regression analysis of the data revealed a square trend in most of the parameters over time period. Overall, the feeding had the best effect in the subjects with lipidemic status of borderline cholesterol level (2.2-2.2 g/L) group.