Hypolipidemic effects of modified psyllium preparations.

The hypolipidemic effects of two solid-state enzymatically modified psyllium preparations were compared to that of the original psyllium husks in hamsters. Hamsters were ad libitum fed 0.2 wt % cholesterol diets formulated to contain 12% cellulose or 5% cellulose plus 7% raw or enzymatically modified psyllium preparations. Psyllium additions to the diet did not significantly alter food consumption or the weekly mean hamster weight over the 5 weeks of feeding. However, the total weight gained over 35 days of feeding of modified psyllium Y-26-4, one of the modified psyllium preparations, was significantly lower, 48, 47, and 32% than that for the cellulose, raw psyllium, and modified psyllium Y-24-3 groups, respectively. At 35 days, psyllium feeding significantly reduced plasma total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by 50-100% in comparison to cellulose feeding, with no significant differences between the psyllium preparations. Fecal dry weight was unaffected by dietary treatment. At days 29-31, fecal bile acid excretion was significantly increased by 30-70% with all three psyllium diets, with no significant differences between psyllium preparations. These results suggest that improving the functional properties of psyllium by solid-state enzymatic procedures, such that its incorporation into food products is feasible, does not alter psyllium-mediated hypolipidemic effects.