The Effect of Ascorbic Acid on Liver and Plasma Cholesterol Levels of Male Rats

The possible hypocholesterolemic effect of ascorbic acid feeding in mature and immature (up to one month old) male rats was investigated by the liver and the plasma cholesterol level determination together with the ascorbic acid concentration in plasma. The feeding period was six weeks. The mature and the immature rats were divided into three feeding groups. The first group of rats were exposed to regular feeding (the control group). The second group was given a diet consisting of 0.2 g ascorbic acid/100 ml of water whereas the third group was fed with 0.5 g ascorbic acid/100 ml of water. It was observed that, both ascorbic acid concentrations lowered the plasma and the liver cholesterol levels significantly (p<0.005) whereas in mature rats only the plasma cholesterol levels were significantly lowered (p<0.0005).