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Peony seed oil decreases plasma cholesterol and favorably modulates gut microbiota in hypercholesterolemic hamsters

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Abstract

Purpose

Peony (Paeonia spp.) seed oil (PSO) contains a high amount of α-linolenic acid. The effects of PSO on hypercholesterolemia and gut microbiota remains unclear. The present study was to investigate effects of PSO supplementation on cholesterol metabolism and modulation of the gut microbiota.

Methods

Male Golden Syrian hamsters (n = 40) were randomly divided into five groups (n = 8, each) fed one of the following diets namely low-cholesterol diet (LCD); high cholesterol diet (HCD); HCD with PSO substituting 50% lard (LPSO), PSO substituting 100% lard (HPSO) and HCD with addition of 0.5% cholestyramine (PCD), respectively, for 6 weeks.

Results

PSO supplementation dose-dependently reduced plasma total cholesterol (TC) by 9–14%, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) by 7–18% and triacylglycerols (TG) by 14–34% (p < 0.05). In addition, feeding PSO diets reduced the formation of plaque lesions by 49–61% and hepatic lipids by 9–19% compared with feeding HCD diet (p < 0.01). PSO also altered relative genus abundance of unclassified_f__Coriobacteriaceae, unclassified_f__Erysipelotrichaceae, Peptococcus, unclassified_f__Ruminococcaceae, norank_o__Mollicutes_RF9 and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group.

Conclusions

It was concluded that PSO was effective in reducing plasma cholesterol and hepatic lipids and favorably modulating gut microbiota associated with cholesterol metabolism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China

    Erika Kwek, Hanyue Zhu, Huafang Ding, Zouyan He, Wangjun Hao, Jianhui Liu, Ka Ying Ma & Zhen-Yu Chen

  2. School of Food Science and Engineering/South China Food Safety Research Center, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong, China

    Hanyue Zhu

  3. School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China

    Zouyan He

  4. College of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Jianhui Liu

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  1. Erika Kwek
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Kwek, E., Zhu, H., Ding, H. et al. Peony seed oil decreases plasma cholesterol and favorably modulates gut microbiota in hypercholesterolemic hamsters. Eur J Nutr 61, 2341–2356 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-021-02785-9

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