Taweesak Techakriengkrai, Theerawut Klangjareonchai, Varapat Pakpeankitwattana, Piyamitr Sritara and Chulaporn Roongpisuthipong

pp. 173 - 178

Abstract

Egg is a major source of dietary cholesterol. The serum lipid response to egg shows marked individual variation, being
partly genetically determined, and influence by ethnic groups and the overall diet response. In the present investigation, we
investigated the effect of ingestion of egg and low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation on serum lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic women. Forty hypercholesterolemic women volunteers on a cholesterol-lowering diet (CLD) divided into 2 groups in
a randomized controlled cross-over study of one egg per day (CLD + 1 egg) for 4-week and three eggs per day (CLD + 3 eggs)
for 4-week, separated by 4-week period egg-free. The body weight, blood pressure, serum lipid profiles and LDL oxidation
were measured at 4-week intervals. Cholesterol-lowering diet was applied throughout the study by a dietitian using a food
exchange program and 3-day dietary recall every 4 weeks. Compared to the values obtained at baseline, the mean serum total
cholesterol and LDL cholesterol of CLD + 3 eggs was not significantly different from baseline whereas of those of 4-week of
egg-free period and CLD + 1 egg were significantly decreased (238.3±2.9 mg/dL and 228.3±4.7 mg/dL) compared to the
baseline (252.2±5.9 mg/dL) as was LDL cholesterol (161.2±3.0 mg/dL and 155.7±4.8 mg/dL) compared to the baseline (177.5±
6.0 mg/dL) (p<0.05). The study showed there were no significantly difference the body weight, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides or LDL oxidation during the study. However, serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol of 1 or 3 eggs
per day after 4-week of egg consumption was not significantly higher than the egg-free period. The study suggests that in
hypercholesterolemic women who are on cholesterol-lowering diet, consuming one or three eggs per day did not raise serum
cholesterol or LDL cholesterol levels at 4 weeks or result in any change in LDL oxidation.

Keywords

• egg consumption
• serum lipids
• hypercholesterolemic women
• cholesterol-lowering diet
• LDL oxidation