Table 2.

The effect of β-sitosterol on absolute and relative (to body mass) liver and kidney masses of growing female rats fed a high-fructose diet

Parameter	PC + PW	PC + FS	FF + FS	Bst + PW	Bst + FS	Significance
Liver (g)	6.53 ± 0.91ab	7.35 ± 0.54abc	8.08 ± 0.67c	6.26 ± 0.54a	6.99 ± 0.48a	*
Liver (%BM)	2.64 ± 0.27ab	2.84 ± 0.14ab	3.26 ± 0.31c	2.50 ± 0.18a	2.82 ± 0.24a	*
Kidney (g)	1.43 ± 0.12a	1.60 ± 0.08a	1.56 ± 0.17a	1.47 ± 0.12a	1.44 ± 0.21a	ns
Kidney (%BM)	0.58 ± 0.05a	0.62 ± 0.03a	0.63 ± 0.01a	0.59 ± 0.05a	0.58 ± 0.08a	ns

abcWithin row means with different superscripts are significantly different at p < 0.05. ns = not significant; * p < 0.05. PC + PW = plain gelatine cubes + plain tap water to drink; PC + FS = plain gelatine cubes + 20% (w/v) fructose solution to drink; FF + FS = gelatine cube containing fenofibrate at a dose of 100 mg/kg body mass per day + fructose solution to drink. Bst + PW = gelatine cube containing β-sitosterol at a dose of 20 mg/kg body mass per day + plain tap water to drink; Bst + FS = gelatine cube containing β-sitosterol at a dose of 20 mg/kg body mass per day + fructose solution to drink (w/v); %BM = relative to body mass; Data presented as mean ± SD; n = 7 per treatment