Anti hypertensive and hypocholesterolemic effects of tofuyo in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Tofuyo is a fermented soybean curd that has angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity in vitro. The aim of this study was to examine the antihypertensive and hypocholesterolemic effects of tofuyo in vivo. Spontaneously hypertensive male rats at 8 weeks of age were fed a diet containing lyophilized tofuyo for 6 weeks. At 13 weeks of age, the systolic blood pressure of rats in the tofuyo group was significantly lower than that in the control group. After feeding the experimental diets, the ACE activity of kidney was significantly lower in the tofuyo group than that in the control group. Total cholesterol in serum in the tofuyo group was significantly lower while the ratio of high density lipoprotein (HDL) to total cholesterol in the tofuyo group tended to be higher than that in the control group.