Effects of Platycodon grandiflorum feeding on serum and liver lipid concentrations in rats with diet-induced hyperlipidemia.

To study the effect of Platycodon grandiflorum (P.g.) feeding on serum and liver lipid concentrations, diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats were fed diets containing 5% and 10% P.g. powder for 3 weeks. The P.g. feeding markedly decreased both serum and liver lipid concentrations in hyperlipidemic rats. Especially, 5% P.g. diet significantly decreased the concentrations of total cholesterol and triglycerides in serum and liver as compared with those of the hyperlipidemic control group. Dietary P.g. also induced a reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol as well as an increase in the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol in serum. Furthermore, the atherogenic index was also low in rats fed P.g. diet. These results indicated that dietary P.g. may have a beneficial effect on preventing hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia.