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  • Original Article
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Plant stanol ascorbate esters reduce body weight gain through decreased energy absorption in hamsters

Abstract

Objective:

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of disodium ascorbyl phytostanyl phosphate (DAPP), a novel hydrophilic phytostanol analogue, on energy homeostasis, including body weight and intestinal energy absorption, and plasma triglyceride concentrations, in hamsters.

Methods:

Male Golden Syrian hamsters (n=50) were fed for 5 weeks with experimental diets varying in cholesterol and phytostanol content. Diets included (i) non-cholesterol (semipurified diet without added cholesterol), (ii) cholesterol-control (semipurified diet with 0.25% cholesterol), (iii) stanol (cholesterol-control with 1% free phytostanols), (iv) DAPP 0.7% (cholesterol-control with 0.71% DAPP) or (v) DAPP 1.4% (cholesterol-control with 1.43% DAPP). Fecal samples were collected continuously for 3 days on week 3, and fecal energy output was measured by bomb calorimetry.

Results:

Hamsters fed 1.4% DAPP gained less (P<0.05) weight than hamsters fed non-cholesterol and stanol diets. Diets had no effect on total food consumption or gross energy intake after 5 weeks, but lower (P<0.05) weekly food consumptions in hamsters fed 1.4% DAPP were observed at weeks 1 and 2 of the experiment in comparison to animals fed the non-cholesterol diet. In comparison to non-cholesterol and cholesterol-control diets, DAPP 1.4% increased (P<0.01) fecal energy output by 47 and 46%, respectively. In hamsters supplemented with 1.4% DAPP, plasma triglyceride concentrations were 45% lower (P<0.05) than in cholesterol-control fed hamsters. Furthermore, plasma triglyceride levels in the DAPP 1.4% group was 49% lower (P<0.01) than in the stanol group, despite the fact that both diets contained equivalent amounts of phytostanols. The lower concentration of DAPP (0.7%) also reduced plasma triglycerides (P<0.05) compared with the stanol diet.

Conclusion:

Stanol-ascorbate decreases body weight gain in hamsters, likely due to lower energy absorption at the intestinal level. In addition to its previously observed powerful cholesterol-lowering effect, DAPP has a hypotriglyceridemic function in hamsters.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Arif Mustafa and Miss Denise Gaulin for their excellent technical assistance in bomb calorimetry use. We are grateful to Dr Yanwen Wang for his invaluable technical assistance and to Mr Gordon Bingham for his assistance in animal care. This study was supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The DAPP was a kind gift of Forbes Medi-tech Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada.

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Correspondence to P J H Jones.

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Ebine, N., Demonty, I., Jia, X. et al. Plant stanol ascorbate esters reduce body weight gain through decreased energy absorption in hamsters. Int J Obes 30, 751–757 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803191

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803191

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