Dihydrocapsaicin (DC) protects against serum hyperlipidemia in guinea pigs fed a cholesterol-enriched diet.

Juvenile guinea pigs were maintained either on a standard diet (cholesterol-free) or a 0.5% cholesterol-enriched vitamin C deficient diet for six weeks. Half of the animals of each dietary group were treated with dihydrocapsaicin (DC) at the rate of 8 mg per animal per day. DC administration significantly altered food consumption, body weight, and dry weight of feces of animals maintained on the standard diet. In addition, the mean serum triglyceride concentration of these animals was significantly decreased with DC treatment. Food consumption, body weight and (wet) fecal weight of animals maintained on the 0.5% cholesterol-enriched diet were significantly lower than the corresponding values in control animals even though the liver was much larger in proportion to the total body weight. The mean serum cholesterol concentration of the animals fed a cholesterol-enriched diet was significantly elevated. However, in animals also receiving DC, the cholesterol and triglyceride levels were comparable to controls fed a regular diet. The gross and microscopic fatty infiltration of the liver observed in the cholesterol-fed animal were minimized in those animals fed cholesterol and DC.