Barichello A W, Fedoroff S
Br J Exp Pathol. 1971 Feb;52(1):81-7.
Experiments are described which were designed to find out how alfalfa prevents hypercholesterolaemia in rabbits. It was found that rabbits with shortened small intestine (ileal bypass) required less alfalfa to prevent blood serum cholesterol elevation than rabbits with normal length of gut and that rabbits with ileal bypass absorbed less cholesterol than normal rabbits. It was found that rabbits receiving 600 mg. of cholesterol daily required more alfalfa than those receiving 300 mg. to prevent hypercholesterolaemia. The lower amount of alfalfa required to prevent a rise in the blood serum cholesterol in rabbits with shortened small intestine could be due to decreased ability to absorb cholesterol from the intestinal lumen. The observation that more alfalfa was required to prevent a blood serum cholesterol rise when rabbits received higher doses of cholesterol tends to support the hypothesis that alfalfa prevents hypercholesterolaemia by forming unabsorbable complexes with cholesterol in the intestinal lumen.
本文描述了旨在探究苜蓿如何预防家兔高胆固醇血症的实验。研究发现，小肠缩短（回肠旁路）的家兔相较于肠道长度正常的家兔，预防血清胆固醇升高所需的苜蓿量更少，且回肠旁路的家兔吸收的胆固醇比正常家兔少。研究还发现，每日接受600毫克胆固醇的家兔比接受300毫克胆固醇的家兔预防高胆固醇血症需要更多的苜蓿。小肠缩短的家兔预防血清胆固醇升高所需苜蓿量较低，可能是由于从肠腔吸收胆固醇的能力下降。当给家兔投喂更高剂量的胆固醇时，需要更多的苜蓿来预防血清胆固醇升高，这一观察结果倾向于支持以下假设：苜蓿通过在肠腔中与胆固醇形成不可吸收的复合物来预防高胆固醇血症。
