Reduction of the cholesterol content of eggs by the oral administration of lovastatin to laying hens

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted in which laying hens were administered lovastatin, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. In the first study, 26-week-old White Leghorn hens were fed corn-soybean meal diets containing either 0,0.0059,0.0124, or 0.0265% lovastatin (analyzed values) for a period of 35 days. Cholesterol content per gram of yolk was significantly lowered with each successive level of lovastatin, whereas egg cholesterol levels plateaued at approximately 151 mg, a 15% reduction from the basal value. In experiment 2,44-week-old White Leghorn hens were fed corn-soybean meal diets containing either 0,0.0290, 0.1198, or 0.2407% lovastatin (analyzed values) for a period of 9 days. In comparison to day 0 values, egg cholesterol contents on day 9 were reduced only at the two highest drug levels, with maximum observed decreases of approximately 8 and 13 % when expressed as milligrams of cholesterol per gram of yolk and milligrams of cholesterol per egg, respectively. No drug residues were detected in acetonitrile extracts of eggs from hens fed the highest dietary levels of lovastatin in each experiment.

Effects of supplementation of multi-enzyme and multi-species probiotic on production performance, egg quality, cholesterol level and immune system in laying hens

“…One gram of each egg yolk was homogenised with 15 mL of chloroformÁmethanol 2:1 (by volume), sonicated and filtered as previously described (Elkin and Rogler 1990). Then the obtained samples were stored at (808C until further analysis.…”

Effect of dietary addition of unprocessed, autoclaved or pre germinated fenugreek seeds on laying hens’ performance and egg quality

“…However, their consumption may increase blood cholesterol and the risk of developing coronary heart diseases (Burke et al, 2007). Therefore, research efforts have been directed to provide a low-cholesterol egg (Weiss et al, 1967;Elkin and Rogler, 1990;Pesti and Bakalli, 1998). Because genetic selection of chickens for this goal has been of little success, efforts have been centered on dietary manipulation (Hargis, 1988;Rahardja et al, 2010;Abdouli et al, 2014a).…”

Relationship between inhibition of mevalonate biosynthesis and reduced fertility in laying hens

“…When laying hens were administered orally with the HMGR inhibitors lovastatin (Elkin and Rogler, 1990) or PD 123244-15 (Elkin et ah, 1993), there were 15 and 30% decreases in egg cholesterol, respectively, and less effect on egg production (no change or -18%, respectively). HMGR is the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis and catalyses the conversion of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarylcoenzyme A to mevalonate (Endo, 1992).…”

“…HMGR inhibitors are currently the most effective and widely used class of cholesterol-lowering drugs available for the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia in humans (Endo, 1992; Dujovne, 1997 (Elkin et ah, 1999 (Elkin and Rogler, 1990) containing 0.06% avicel® microcrystalline cellulose (FMC Corp., Philadelphia, PA) (diet 1), while five hens each were fed the same ration supplemented, at the expense of avicel®, with 0.03% atorvastatin (diet 2), 0.06% atorvastatin (diet 3), 0.03% lovastatin (diet 4), 0.06% lovastatin (diet 5), 0.03% simvastatin (diet 6), or 0.06% simvastatin (diet 7). The two concentrations of inhibitor were equal to approximately 30 or 60 mg per hen per day, respectively, on the basis of a food intake of 100 g per bird per day (Elkin and Rogler, 1990). Atorvastatin was synthesized and provided by Parke-Davis (Roth et ah, 1991 …”