Open AccessEFFECT OF ASCOFURANONE ON SERUM LIPIDS OF RATS FED A CHOLESTEROL RICH DIET
Author(s) -
Tomoyoshi Hosokawa,
Kôji Suzuki,
Tsuneo Okutomi,
Mikio Sawada,
Kiyoshi Ando
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
japanese journal of pharmacology/japanese journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1347-3506
pISSN - 0021-5198
DOI - 10.1254/jjp.25.35
Subject(s) - clofibrate , medicine , endocrinology , cholesterol , globulin , metabolite , serum cholesterol , body weight , albumin , chemistry , biology
Ascofuranone, a fungal metabolite, significantly reduced serum lipid levels, when orally administered to male Wistar rats fed a cholesterol rich diet. The treatment also resulted in a marked reduction of hepatic and cardiac cholesterol contents without affecting the body weight gain. The serum albumin/globulin ratio increased significantly in the treated rats. This increase is presumably due to the decrease of beta-lipoprotein. The mode of action differentiates from clofibrate in so far as the former effectively prevents hepatic and cardiac cholesterol deposits in the cholesterol feeding rats.