OYSTER MUSHROOM (PLEUROTUS-OSTREATUS) ACCELERATES THE PLASMA-CLEARANCE OF LOW-DENSITY AND HIGH-DENSITY-LIPOPROTEINS IN RATS

In Wistar rats fed after weaning a semisynthetic diet containing 0.3 % cholesterol (C), the addition of 4% dried whole oyster mushroom (Pleurotus Ostreatus) led to a reduced level of serum and liver C at the end of the 10th week of the experiment by 25, resp. 33 %. The level of serum triacylglycerols was not influenced by the mushroom, but was significantly reduced by 13 % in liver. The decrease in serum C level is a consequence of the decreased C concentration in very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and in low-density lipoproteins (LDL). content of C in high-density lipoproteins (HDL) was not influenced by the mushroom. Dietary Pleurotus ostreatus increased the fractional turnover rate of LDL (by 28 %) and HDL (by 31 %) as determined by the.analysis of decay curves of I-125-labelled lipoproteins. The increase in rate of LDL and HDL catabolism is one of the decisive mechanisms which mediates the hypocholesterolemic effect of mushroom in rat.