Nutr Res Pract.  2019 Aug;13(4):295-301. 10.4162/nrp.2019.13.4.295.

Egg phospholipids exert an inhibitory effect on intestinal cholesterol absorption in mice

• Lee Y
• Han CY
• Bae M
• Park YK
• Lee JY

• KMID: 2453107
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2019.13.4.295

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
Consumption of cholesterol-rich foods, such as eggs, has a minimal effect on circulating cholesterol levels in healthy humans. To gain insight, we investigated whether phospholipids rich in eggs (EPL) interfere with intestinal cholesterol absorption in vivo.
MATERIALS/METHODS
To investigate the acute effect of EPL on intestinal cholesterol absorption, male C57BL/6J mice were orally administered with 6, 11, or 19 mg of EPL for three days. We also tested the effect of chronic EPL consumption on cholesterol metabolism in the small intestine and the liver in mice with diet-induced hypercholesterolemia. Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a high fat/high cholesterol (HF/HC; 35% fat, 0.25% cholesterol, w/w) diet for 4 weeks to induce hypercholesterolemia, and subsequently the mice were either fed 0, 0.4 or 0.8% (w/w) of EPL for 6 weeks.
RESULTS
Intestinal cholesterol absorption was significantly decreased by the highest dose of acute EPL administration compared to control. Chronic EPL supplementation did not significantly alter intestinal cholesterol absorption nor plasma levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In the small intestine and the liver, EPL supplementation minimally altered the expression of genes which regulate cellular cholesterol levels.
CONCLUSION
Although chronic EPL consumption was not able to counteract hypercholesterolemia in HF/HC-fed mice, acute EPL administration decreased intestinal cholesterol absorption. This study provides in vivo evidence that acute administration of PLs in eggs prevent cholesterol absorption in the intestine, suggesting a mechanism for a minimal effect of egg consumption on circulating cholesterol levels.

Keyword

Eggs; phosphatidylcholines; cholesterol; absorption; intestinal absorption

MeSH Terms

Absorption*
Animals
Cholesterol*
Diet
Eggs
Humans
Hypercholesterolemia
Intestinal Absorption
Intestine, Small
Intestines
Lipoproteins
Liver
Male
Metabolism
Mice*
Ovum*
Phosphatidylcholines
Phospholipids*
Plasma
Cholesterol
Lipoproteins
Phosphatidylcholines
Phospholipids

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 The effect of EPL on hepatic SREBP-2, LDLR, and HMGCR protein levels in mice with hypercholesterolemia. Mice were fed with a HF/HC diet for 4 weeks to induce hypercholesterolemia, and then subsequently fed with a HF/HC control or 0.8% EPL (w/w) supplemented HF/HC diet for 6 weeks. (A) Western blot analysis of cholesterol homeostasis related proteins in mouse liver fed with a HF/HC control group or a HF/HC supplemented with 0.8% EPL (w/w). n = 10. (B) Quantitative analysis of Western blot analysis. Data are shown as means ± SEM. *P < 0.05.

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