Oat oil lowers the plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations by promoting the excretion of faecal lipids in hypercholesterolemic rats

The aim of the present study is to investigate the hypocholesterolemic effect of dietary oat oil in rats, fed with a hypercholesterolemic diet. The rats were divided into three groups and fed with the experiment diets for 30 days, containing soybean oil, oat oil, or rice bran oil at a dose of 70 g/kg. It was found that the oat oil lowered plasma total and LDL-cholesterol, and also reduced liver total, free cholesterol, cholesterol ester, and triglycerides concentrations significantly, as well as rice bran oil. Moreover, the faecal weight, total lipids, and bile acids concentrations, in the oat oil and rice bran oil groups, were significantly increased compared with that in the soybean oil group. We can conclude that dietary oat oil improves hypercholesterolemia in rats fed a hypercholesterolemic diet, by promoting excretions of faecal lipids and bile acids.