| Popis: |
Background and Methods: This study evaluates the antihypertensive effect of long-term intake of a soluble cocoa fiber product (SCFP). Different doses of SCFP were evaluated (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg/day) and a dose of 800 mg/kg/day of beta-glucan 0.75 (BETA-G) was used as a standard fiber. Water, a neutral vehicle, was used as negative control, and 50 mg/kg/day captopril was used as positive control. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured weekly by the tail cuff method. Body weight, food, and liquid intake were also registered weekly in the rats from 10 to 24 weeks of life. Glucose, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels; redox status; and the angiotensin-converting enzyme activity were also studied in the plasma samples of these animals. Results: Throughout the 10 weeks of treatment, captopril and SCFP (400 mg/kg/day) demonstrated blood pressure lowering effects in the spontaneously hypertensive rats (p0.05; n=8). When the corresponding antihypertensive treatment, was disrupted the SBP values of the 400 mg/kg/day SCFP treated animals returned to control values (p>0.05; n=8). In addition, the SCFP significantly decreased (p |
