Dietary fiber sources lower blood cholesterol in C57BL/6 mice

Five sources of dietary fiber were compared for their effect on blood and liver cholesterol. The effects of soybean fiber, rice bran (full fat), oat bran, barley bran and mixed bran on total blood cholesterol concentrations and liver cholesterol concentrations were measured in beef-fed C57BL/6 male mice. Each diet contained cooked beef, beef tallow, corn starch and 7% dietary fiber from one of the five fiber sources. A control group consumed a fiber-free diet. Dietary cholesterol was provided by the beef and beef tallow only. The experimental diets were fed for 3 wk; blood and liver were collected when the mice were 18 wk old. The liver cholesterol concentration in the rice bran-fed group was the lowest of the six diet groups and was significantly different than concentrations in the oat bran-fed group and the barley bran-fed group (P less than 0.05). The oat bran, mixed bran, and barley bran did not significantly lower blood cholesterol in the mice. Both the soybean fiber and rice bran diet groups had significantly lower total blood cholesterol than did the fiber-free controls (P less than 0.05). The soybean fiber group also had significantly lower blood cholesterol than the mixed-bran group.