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Role of Dietary Propionic Acid and Bile Acid Excretion in the Hypocholesterolemic Effects of Oligosaccharides in Rats¹

Laboratoire des Maladies Métaboliques de l' I.N.R.A., Centre de Recherches en Nutrition Humaine de Clermont-Ferrand/Theix, 63122 St Genès Champanelle, France

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of dietary propionic acid and bile acid excretion on the hypocholesterolemic effect of fibers. For this purpose, rats were adapted to a diet containing 10 g inulin, 10 g ß-cyclodextrin, or 2.5 g calcium propionate per 100 g diet. Both the inulin and ß-cyclodextrin diets elicited high propionic acid fermentations in the cecum (45% of total short-chain fatty acids) with relatively low molar proportions of acetic and butyric acids. In rats fed the three experimental diets, 5–7 µmol/min of propionic acid was absorbed in the portal vein, and propionic acid was entirely metabolized by the liver. Plasma cholesterol was more effectively depressed by the ß-cyclodextrin diet than by the inulin diet; the propionic acid-supplemented diet was ineffective in this respect. The inulin diet slightly increased fecal bile acid excretion, compared with the control diet, whereas ß-cyclodextrin markedly enhanced (1.8-fold) bile acid excretion. Microsomal hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase activity was slightly depressed in rats fed the propionic acid-supplemented diet, whereas it was enhanced by the ß-cyclodextrin diet in parallel to the activity of cholesterol 7-hydroxylase. The present data suggest that absorption and further hepatic metabolism of large amounts of propionic acid are not sufficient to counteract the induction of HMG-CoA reductase resulting from bile acid fecal losses. The rise of these losses plays a major role in the hypocholesterolemic effect of ß-cyclodextrin.

KEY WORDS: • inulin • cholesterol • rats • ß-cyclodextrin • propionic acid

¹ The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 22 June 1993. Revision accepted 9 November 1993.

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