Sparassis latifolia Polysaccharide Attenuates Cholesterol in Rats Maintained on a High-Fat, High-Cholesterol Diet

Sparassis latifolia polysaccharide (SLP) has broad application prospects as a raw material of functional food. This study aimed to investigate the effects SLP on liver cholesterol metabolism and its mechanism. Sprague–Dawley rats were fed high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, various assessments conducted including hematoxylin eosin staining, measurement metabolic indices, antioxidant analysis. In addition, fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed analyze mRNA expression, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry employed for screening differential metabolites. The results demonstrated that reduced abnormal increase in index caused by high fat improved tissue morphology, level, antioxidant-related enzyme activities. regulated sterol pathway, decreased expression levels 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoAR) O-acyltransferase 1 (SOAT1), upregulated 7α hydroxylase (CYP7α-1) ABCA1, increased contents propionic acid butyric liver. These findings indicated novel pathway through which prevented hepatic lipid deposition ameliorated via regulating HMG-CoAR-CYP7α-1 axis.