Abstract: The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of wood pulp-derived sterols on cholesterol regulation and the intestinal microbiota in Golden Syrian hamsters fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet. Totally 45 hamsters were randomly divided into normal group, high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFHC) group and three experimental groups given 1‰, 5‰ and 10‰ of wood pulp-derived sterols, respectively. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high-densitylipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were detected in all animals. The contents of cholesterol in liver, fecal neutral and acidic sterols were determined by gas chromatography (GC). The expression of cholesterol-regulating genes in the liver and small intestine was assayed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The change of intestinal microbiota was assayed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). TC, TG and non HDL-C in the experimental groups were significantly decreased compared with the HFHC group (P < 0.05), and hepatic cholesterol level was significantly decreased with increasing dose of wood pulp-derived sterol (P < 0.01). The weight of liver in the 5‰ and 10‰ groups was significantly decreased compared with the HFHC group (P < 0.01). The mRNA expression levels of acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferase-2 (ACAT-2) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) in the 5‰ and 10‰ groups were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the RNA expression levels of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters ABCG5 and ABCG8 in the 10‰ group was significantly increased (P < 0.05) compared with the HFHC group. Significantly higher fecal excretion of total fecal neutral sterols and total fecal acidic sterols were observed in the 10‰ group compared with the HFHC group (P < 0.01). Wood pulp-derived sterols at doses of 1‰ and 5‰ significantly decreased intestinal bacterial overgrowth induced by HFHC diet (P < 0.05). Oscillibacter sp. and Desulfovibrio sp. were significantly decreased, while Akkermansia sp., Anaerostipes sp. and Roseburia sp. were significantly increased in the experimental groups (P < 0.05). Therefore, wood pulp-derived sterol resulted in increasing intestinal cholesterol excretion and inhibition of cholesterol absorption and synthesis, and improved the intestinal microbiota in hamsters.

Key words: wood pulp-derived sterols, hamsters, cholesterol, intestinal microbiota