Abstract

The effect of feeding egusi melon oil as a supplement to a cholesterol-based diet on serum lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity of rats was evaluated. The rats were divided into two groups designated: control and test respectively. Rats in the test group were fed 5% cholesterol diet supplemented with 5% egusi melon oil while the control rats received 5% cholesterol diet without egusi melon oil. After 6 weeks of diet feeding, the enzyme activity was decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the egusi melon oil-fed rats compared with the control. The test group also showed relative significant decreases in the serum levels cholesteryl ester and lysolecithin (p < 0.05) and increase levels of lecithin (p < 0.05). Significant decreases (p < 0.05) were also observed in serum total and free cholesterol in the egusi melon oil treated group compared to the control group. The implications of these results are discussed with respect to hypercholesterolemia.

Key words: Egusi melon oil, cholesterol diet, cholesteryl ester, LCAT, supplementation.