To study the effect of a food supplement on HFD-induced atherosclerosis, the main of the advantages of this model were that hamsters have a receptor-mediated uptake of LDL cholesterol, cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activity, hepatic apoB-100 and intestinal apoB-48 secretion that are comparable to humans [44]. This evidence concerns the gene CETP and atherosclerosis.