Sweet Potato Leaf Feeding Decreases Cholesterol, Oxidative Stress and Thrombosis Formation in Syrian Hamsters with a High-Cholesterol Diet.

Nutritional strategies to reduce hyperlipidemia and the risk of cardiovascular disease are gaining more public favor and medical professionals' attention. The authors of this study explored the effect of sweet potato leaf powder (SPLP) feeding on the parameters of plasma lipids, reactive oxygen species, and time to thrombosis formation in Syrian hamsters fed with high-cholesterol diets. The animals were separated into six groups: a feeding control diet, a control diet containing 0.1% cholesterol, a control diet containing 0.2% cholesterol, a control diet containing 0.1% cholesterol plus 2.5% SPLP, a control diet containing 0.1% cholesterol plus 5% SPLP, and a control diet containing 0.2% cholesterol plus 5% SPLP for six weeks. The levels of serum total cholesterol (51% increase), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (70.6% increase), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (51.3% increase), and the triglyceride and atherogenic index (LDL-C/HDL-C) significantly increased in the high-cholesterol diet groups. Concomitant 5% sweet potato leaf powder ingestion significantly decreased the lipid profiles, with a 20.6% total cholesterol reduction in the 0.1% cholesterol diet groups, a 17.2% reduction in the 0.2% group, a 48.7% LDL reduction in the 0.1% cholesterol group, and a 30.3% reduction in the 0.2% group, with a consequent decrease in the atherogenic index. SPLP feeding was found to be associated with increased fecal sterol contents, with a 188.6% increase in the 0.1% cholesterol-fed group and a 177.3% increase in the 0.2% group. The SPLP-fed groups had depressed ROS levels, elongated FeCl