Abstract:

Objective: To explore the in vivo hypolipidemic effects of different particle sizes of cellulose. Methods: Fortymature female Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups. One group was sham-ovariectomized (OVX) as shamoperation group. The other four groups were double ovariectomized and one week later assigned as blank group, ordinarycellulose group, ultrafine cellulose group and nanocellulose group. All rats were sacrificed after feeding for 28 days for thedetermination of plasma and hepatic lipid profiles. The digestion and adsorption capacity in vitro of three cellulose particleswere assayed. Results: All three cellulose particles had a strong adsorption capacity towards fats, cholesterol and sodiumcholate and smaller particles size resulted in an increase in the adsorption capacity of fats and sodium cholate. Plasma totalcholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), arteriosclerosis index (AI) and livertotal fat and TG and of OVX rats exhibited a decrease. There were positive correlations between decreasing trends of plasmaTC, TG and LDL-C in OVX rats and cellulose particle size. Conclusions: The adsorption capacity of cellulose towards fatand bile salts can be increased by reducing its particle size, consequently improving the hypolipidemic effect in OVX rats.

Key words: ovariectomy, sweet potato cellulose, ultrafine cellulose, nanocellulose, blood lipids