Hypocholesterolaemic and antioxidant effects of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) in high-cholesterol fed rats.

OBJECTIVE

To study the effect of mate (Ilex paraguariensis) on serum lipids and antioxidant status in normocholesterolaemic and hypercholesterolaemic rats.

METHODS

Triglycerides (TG), total, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol levels, total antioxidant capacity (FRAP and ABTS assays), malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyls were analysed in serum, and MDA, glutathione and antioxidant enzyme activity in livers of rats drinking water or mate fed normal or cholesterol-cholic supplemented diets.

RESULTS

ABTS, glutathione and antioxidant enzymes were not affected by any treatment. In normocholesterolaemic animals, mate had no effect on serum lipids or antioxidant status, yet it increased serum carbonyls and liver MDA concentrations. In hypercholesterolaemic rats, mate consumption had no effect on HDL-cholesterol or protein carbonyls, yet it showed a marked hypolipidaemic action, decreasing TG, total and LDL-cholesterol, and serum MDA levels that had been increased after consuming the high-cholesterol diet.

CONCLUSIONS

Potential beneficial effect of mate on markers of cardiovascular risk seems to be restricted to hyperlipaemic animals.