Hepatic accumulation of intestinal cholesterol is decreased and fecal cholesterol excretion is increased in mice fed a high-fat diet supplemented with milk phospholipids

Abstract

Background. Milk phospholipids (PLs) reduce liver lipid levels when given as a dietary supplement to mice fed a high-fat diet. We have speculated that this might be due to reduced intestinal cholesterol uptake. Methods. Mice were given a high-fat diet for 3 or 5 weeks that had no added PL or that were supplemented with 1.2% by wt PL from cow's milk. Two milk PL preparations were investigated: a) a PL-rich dairy milk extract (PLRDME), and b) a commercially-available milk PL concentrate (PC-700). Intestinal cholesterol uptake was assessed by measuring fecal and hepatic radioactivity after intragastric administration of [14C]cholesterol and [ 3H]sitostanol. Fecal and hepatic lipids were measure..