Hypercholesterolemia plays an important role in atherosclerosis. The dietary supplementation of proteins or specific aminoacids seems to enhance the immune status in animals and humans with a complex pathological status, decreasing morbidity and mortality.
Aim: In the present study we intended to analyse the effects of some nonpolar aminoacids--valine and leucine on cholesterol blood levels in a high-fat-diet in rats. In the same time we evaluated the vascular walls impact produced by the hypercholesterolemic diet.
Material and methods: Our experiment was realised on 32 male Wistar rats, which were fed with cholesterol, valine and leucine for 8 weeks. At the end of experiment we analysed serum levels of cholesterol and also histopathological features of hypercholesterolemia on the arterial wall.
Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that valine and leucine decrease the serum cholesterol and therefore the hypercholesterolemic-induced prooxidant status of the body being useful in reducing atherosclerosis.