Effect of dietary fish on the lipid profile of cholesterolstressed rats during copper overload.

The effect of dietary supplementation with Oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps) fish at 2/3 fat replacement, on serum lipids in the cholesterol-stressed copper loaded rats was studied. Hypercholesterolemic state observed during copper toxicity was not alleviated by sardines. Copper loading significantly decreased the triglyceride levels and the activity of β-hydroxy β-methyl glutaryl (HMG) CoA reductase. Fish supplementation was further effective in reducing the triglyceride levels in copper loaded rats. Significant increase in the serum phospholipid was observed in the fish supplemented rats during copper overload. The finding suggests that hypolipidemic potential of fish is certainly altered to some extent in copper toxicity since, it is well known that copper enhances the formation of free radicals. Thus it may be concluded that sardine fish is not effective in reducing the cholesterol levels during copper toxicity.