Application in nutrition: cholesterol-lowering activity

Abstract Hypercholesterolemia, which is considered as the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood, is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease progression that may be prevented by lifestyle changes, including diet. Although clinical studies are more in favor of a relevant role of plant proteins in the prevention of hypercholesterolemia, bioactive peptides with hypocholesterolemic activity have been isolated also from some animal sources. Therefore this chapter will discuss peptides either from plant (soybean, lupin, cowpea, hempseed, and rice bran) or animal (milk, meat, and egg) sources. The very diversified structures of the hypocholesterolemic peptides so far identified explain why they exert their activity through different mechanisms of action that will be extensively described in this review. Doubtlessly, their potential use in nutritional application is desirable, however, only few of them are assessed in vivo. Therefore more efforts need to be pursued for singling out good candidates for the development of functional foods or dietary supplements.