Evidence for the anti-hyperlipidaemic activity of the edible fungus Pleurotus ostreatus.

The effects are described of adding either the dried fruiting bodies of the oyster fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, or an ethanolic extract of it, to the diet of normal Wistar male rats and a strain with hereditary hypercholesterolaemia. Addition of the dry oyster fungus to the diet significantly increased, by more than two-fold, the triacylglycerol (TAG) level in the plasma of both groups of rats compared with their respective controls. In contrast, the ethanolic extract did not significantly change TAG levels. Values for total cholesterol and its high- and low-density lipoprotein fractions in the plasma, as well as the calculated atherogenic index, did not show any significant change. Levels of liver cholesterol were significantly lowered by the dried oyster fungus in both hypercholesterolaemic and normal groups of rats, and by the ethanolic extract in normal rats. A significantly increased phospholipid-to-cholesterol ratio in the aortas of both groups of rats, after the administration of either dried oyster fungus or the ethanolic extract of it, suggests a favourable anti-atherogenic effect for both.