Effects of Dietary Prosomillet on cholesterol and Fatty Acid Metabolism in Rats Fed High Cholesterol Diets

To study the effect of prosomillet (Panicum milaceum) on lipid metabolism, male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 190$\pm$8g were fed six experimental diets for four weeks. The six diets based on AIN-76 composition consisted of one cholesterol-free(normal) and five 1%(w/w) cholesterol diets, i.e. control, two diets containing additional 0.3 and 0.6%(w/w) methanol extracts of prosomillet and another two diets containing 15 and 30% (w/w) prosomillet powder. There was no difference in weight gains between the groups but relative liver weights increased under the cholestrol diets. Plasma levels of total cholesterol and triglyceride(TG) decreased by 23-27% and by 37-52%, respectively, in the four prosomillet diet groups compared to those of the normal and control groups. Whereas in the liver, only TG levels decreased in the prosomillet diet groups. Fecal excretions of bile acid and cholesterol significantly with methanol extracts of prosomillet. There was a significant increase in the activity of hepatic microsomal cholesterol 7$\alpha$-hydroxylase when feeding 1% cholesterol but prosomillet in the diet, either as in the form of powder or methanol extract, appeared to have only slight additional effects, namely increases in enzyme activity. The activity of liver cytosolic glucose-6-phophate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) tended to be reduced with high cholesterol diets and dropped markedly by 15% using additional prosomillet powder. Those of the liver cytoxolic malic enzyme had a similar tendency to those of G6PDH. The results indicate that certain active components in prosmillet other than fiber have the potential to exert hypolipidemic effects via regulating cholesterol excretions and lipogenesis.