Marine Chitosan-Oligosaccharide Ameliorated Plasma Cholesterol in Hypercholesterolemic Hamsters by Modifying the Gut Microflora, Bile Acids, and Short-Chain Fatty Acids.

This study evaluated the cholesterol-alleviating effect and underlying mechanisms of chitosan-oligosaccharide (COS) in hypercholesterolemic hamsters. Male hamsters (n = 24) were divided into three groups in a random fashion, and each group was fed one particular diet, namely a non-cholesterol diet (NCD), a high-cholesterol diet (HCD), and an HCD diet substituting 5% of the COS diet for six weeks. Subsequently, alterations in fecal bile acids (BAs), short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and gut microflora (GM) were investigated. COS intervention significantly reduced and increased the plasma total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels in hypercholesteremic hamsters. Furthermore, Non-HDL-C and total triacylglycerols (TG) levels were also reduced by COS supplementation. Additionally, COS could reduce and increase food intake and fecal SCFAs (acetate), respectively. Moreover, COS had beneficial effects on levels of BAs and GM related to cholesterol metabolism. This study provides novel evidence for the cholesterol-lowering activity of COS.

Cholesterol-Lowering Activity of Tartary Buckwheat Protein.

Previous research has shown that Tartary buckwheat flour is capable of reducing plasma cholesterol. The present study was to examine the effect of rutin and Tartary buckwheat protein on plasma total cholesterol (TC) in hypercholesterolemia hamsters. In the first animal experiment, 40 male hamsters were divided into four groups fed either the control diet or one of the three experimental diets containing 8.2 mmol rutin, 8.2 mmol quercetin, or 2.5 g kg-1 cholestyramine, respectively. Results showed that only cholestyramine but not rutin and its aglycone quercetin decreased plasma TC, which suggested that rutin was not the active ingredient responsible for plasma TC-lowering activity of Tartary buckwheat flour. In the second animal experiment, 45 male hamsters were divided into five groups fed either the control diet or one of the four experimental diets containing 24% Tartary buckwheat protein, 24% rice protein, 24% wheat protein, or 5 g kg-1 cholestyramine, respectively. Tartary buckwheat protein reduced plasma TC more effectively than cholestyramine (45% versus 37%), while rice and wheat proteins only reduced plasma TC by 10-13%. Tartary buckwheat protein caused 108% increase in the fecal excretion of total neutral sterols and 263% increase in the fecal excretion of total acidic sterols. real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting analyses showed that Tartary buckwheat protein affected the gene expression of intestinal Niemann-Pick C1-like protein 1 (NPC1L1), acyl CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase 2 (ACAT2), and ATP binding cassette transporters 5 and 8 (ABCG5/8) in a down trend, whereas it increased the gene expression of hepatic cholesterol-7α -hydroxylase (CYP7A1). It was concluded that Tartary buckwheat protein was at least one of the active ingredients in Tartary buckwheat flour to lower plasma TC, mainly mediated by enhancing the excretion of bile acids via up-regulation of hepatic CYP7A1 and also by inhibiting the absorption of dietary cholesterol via down-regulation on intestinal NPC1L1, ACAT2 and ABCG5/8.

Purple sweet potato anthocyanin attenuates fat-induced mortality in Drosophila melanogaster.

A high fat diet induces the accumulation of lipid hydroperoxides (LPO), accelerates the ageing process and causes a greater mortality in Drosophila melanogaster. Purple sweet potato is rich in antioxidant anthocyanin. The purpose of the present study was to examine if supplementation of purple sweet potato anthocyanin (PSPA) could reduce the mortality of fruit flies fed a high-fat diet. Results showed that the mean lifespan of fruit flies was shortened from 56 to 35days in a dose-dependent manner when lard in the diet increased from 0% to 20%. PSPA supplementation partially attenuated the lard-induced mortality. The maximum lifespan and 50% survival time were 49 and 27days, respectively, for the 10% lard control flies, in contrast, these parameters increased to 57 and 30days in the PSPA-supplemented fruit flies. Similarly, addition of lard into diet increased the total body LPO, while addition of PSPA partially attenuated its increase. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that PSPA-supplemented diet significantly up-regulated the mRNA of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and Rpn11, compared with the control lard diet. The western blot analysis also demonstrated that PSPA supplementation was associated with up-regulation protein mass of SOD1, SOD2, and CAT. In addition, PSPA supplementation could restore the climbing ability of fruit flies fed a 10% lard diet. We could conclude that the lifespan-prolonging activity of PSPA was potentially mediated by modulating the genes of SOD, CAT and Rpn11.