Objective: The effects of two fat substitutes, sucrose polyester(SPE) and triglyceride of short fatty acids(TRIS)on lipid metabolism in rats were studied. Methods: Diets containing either SPE or TRIS were fed to rats for 30d. Male Wistar rats were allowed free access to one of three diets: a control diet containing 20% corn oil, SPE group diet containing 10% SPE and 10% corn oil, TRIS group diet containing 20% TRIS. Plasma glucose, TG, TC, HDL C, LDL C, ApoA I, ApoB were analysed. Results: Dietary fat substitutes lowered total energy consumption and body weight 8.1%?4.1%and 12.3% ?16.0% respectively. Two fat substitutes lowered plasma glucose, TG, TC, LDL C, VLDL C, ApoB level and increased HDL C and ApoA I level. TRIS could decrease TC/HDL C, LDL C/HDL C, ApoB/ApoA I more significantly than SPE. Conclusion: TRIS and SPE have the potential benefits on lipid metabolism and energy intake control in rats, TRIS is more efficient than SPE.

Conjunctival Impression Cytology (CIC) method was modified to assess vitamin A level more exactly and simply in China. The infants (

Rat macrophages stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate(PMA) produced significant chemiluminescence in luminol. Carotenoids suppressed the luminol-dependent chemiluminescence at the beginning and after two minutes of the stimulation. Canthaxanthin and bixin had higher suppressive activity that β-carotene and lutein. The measurement of the absorption spectra of carotenoids showed that the absorption by carotenoids was diminished during the stimulation of macrophages. The results suggest that the suppressive effect of carotenoids may be due to their scavenging the reactive oxygen metabolites released by macrophages.