Effects of krill oil intake on plasma cholesterol and glucose levels in rats fed a high‐cholesterol diet

Background In this study, whole krill oil (WKO) and phospholipid-type krill oil (PKO) with different lipid composition were prepared. The effects of KO intake on plasma cholesterol and glucose levels in Wistar rats fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) were investigated. Results WKO contained 37.63% triglycerides, 48.37% phospholipids, 13.54% free fatty acids and 0.66% cholesterol, whereas the corresponding values for PKO were 0.59, 69.80, 28.53 and 1.09% respectively. Meanwhile, PKO contained much more polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA, 37.76%) than WKO (28.36%). After 4 weeks of HCD consumption, plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and glucose increased significantly, but that of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased significantly. The intake of PKO and WKO for 4 weeks caused a significant reduction in body weight gain and plasma levels of TC and LDL-C in HCD-fed rats. Compared with WKO, PKO was more effective in decreasing plasma TC and LDL-C levels. Conclusion PKO showed better overall cholesterol-lowering effects than WKO, which may be due to its higher n-3 PUFA levels. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry