K. Tebib et al., POLYMERIC GRAPE SEED TANNINS PREVENT PLASMA-CHOLESTEROL CHANGES IN HIGH-CHOLESTEROL-FED RATS, Food chemistry, 49(4), 1994, pp. 403-406
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of grape seed
tannins in either monomeric or polymeric form on plasma cholesterol in
rats. These tannins were supplemented at a level of 2% of the diet of
high-cholesterol-fed Sprague Dawley rats for 9 weeks; the diets were
compared with a diet without tannins (control diet) and with a standar
d diet. Rats fed diets containing 1% cholesterol showed an increase in
total and low-density lipoprotein plasma cholesterol and a decrease i
n plasma high-density lipoprotein. These changes were prevented by the
addition of 2% polymeric grape tannins but not by monomeric tannins.
Similarly, liver weight, liver lipids and total liver cholesterol were
increased by dietary cholesterol and these increases were largely inh
ibited by the tannin polymers but not the monomers. The polymers signi
ficantly increased the faecal excretion of lipids and cholesterol. In
conclusion, we have shown that polymeric grape seed tannins exert a hy
pocholesterolaemic effect in high-cholesterol-fed rats.