EFFECT OF UNRIPE GRAPE JUICE (VERJUICE) ON PLASMA LIPID LEVELS IN RABBITS RENDERED HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIC BY FEEDING EGG YOLK

Since many years it has been a general belief in Iranian traditional medicine that unripe grape juice (verjuice) has lipid-lowering effect. This study was designed to test this hypothesis. Fifty rabbits were selected and divided into 5 groups with 10 rabbits in each. Group 1 had no supplemental diet. Group 2 were fed 10 ml egg yolk daily and group 3 were fed 10 ml egg yolk plus 20 ml verjuice daily for six weeks. In the second part of study, 20 rabbits rendered hypercholesterolemic by feeding egg yolk for six weeks, then they were divided into two groups: Group 4 received 10 ml of the egg yolk daily, and group 5 received 10 ml of the egg yolk plus 20 ml verjuice daily for the next 6 weeks. The plasma lipid profiles were measured at the beginning and then every two weeks. In the first part of study total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations in group 2 rose 10 times in comparison with group 1, but addition of verjuice in group 3 did not prevent rising of these values. In the second part of study, TC and LDL-C values rose in groups 4 and 5 in a parallel fashion. Changes in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) were not statistically significant throughout the study. In conclusion, this study did not support preventive or therapeutic effect of verjuice in hypercholesterolemia.