Oral administration of succinoglycan riclin improves diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in mice.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated hypercholesterolemia is associated with an elevated risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. In addition to the available cholesterol-lowering drugs, nutritionally balanced diets containing functional foods have attracted much interests as potential candidates to improve hypercholesterolemia. In the study, we demonstrated that dietary succinoglycan riclin effectively alleviated diet-induced hypercholesterolemia. Compared with high-cholesterol-diet (HCD) group, high riclin group significantly decreased levels of serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and hepatic cholesterol (34%, 40% and 51% respectively), consequently improving hepatic steatosis and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine expressions. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) based lipidomics and metabolomics analyses revealed that riclin group partially reversed metabolic profile changes induced by HCD, approaching to the normal diet (ND) group. Riclin has no direct effects on cholesterol metabolism-related genes expression among three HCD model groups. Basically, riclin increased the solution viscosity and interfered the process of bile acids-cholesterol emulsification, decreasing cholesterol digestion and promoting cholesterol and bile acids excretion in the feces. These results suggested a potential therapeutic utility of succinoglycan riclin as a food additive for people suffering from hypercholesterolemia and related diseases.