Table 4 presents the averages of serum
biochemical parameters of animals in function of the
different diets and supplementations used. Wistar rats
can be resistant to developing hypercholesterolemia
and atherosclerosis, possibly due to the increase in
the conversion of cholesterol into biliary acids in
the liver (Machado et al., 2003). Such resistance
was not confirmed in this study. It was possible to
observe a sharp increase of total cholesterol (60%)
and LDL fraction (97%) with the ingestion of
hypercholesterolemic diets (group 2) comparing to
the control group.