RESUMO
Hamsters were fed for 4 weeks on four different diets: control (C) (balanced diet containing 20 % corn oil as the lipid source), hypercholesterolemic (H) (identical to C but containing 12 % coconut oil, 8 % corn oil and 0.1 % cholesterol as the lipid source), amaranth oil (A) (identical to H without corn oil but with amaranth oil), and squalene (S) (identical to H but admixed with squalene in the ratio found in amaranth oil). There were no significant differences in lipid profile, and in the cholesterol excreted in the animals' feces from amaranth oil (A) and squalene (S) groups. Fecal excretion of bile acids was greater in the amaranth oil (A) and squalene groups (S) as compared to the other groups. The scores of steatosis and parenchymal inflammation observed in the amaranth oil (A) and squalene groups (S) were superior to the ones observed in the other groups. Our findings demonstrated that amaranth oil, and its component squalene, increased the excretion of bile acids but did not have a hypocholesterolemic effect in hamsters fed on a diet containing high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.