OBJECTIVE:To investigate how and to what extent platycodin saponin (PS) from Platycodi Radix exerts a favorable influence on obesity and hyperlipidemia. DESIGN: Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with a high fat (HF) diet for 4 weeks and then the animals were treated with 35 or 70 mg/kg of PS for another 4 weeks. Changes in body weight and daily calorie intake were measured regularly during the experimental period and the degree of linear correlation for the above two variables was further analyzed. The in vitro lipase inhibition of each PS compound and the in vivo fecal lipid excretion were examined in hope of revealing their relationship. The concentrations of hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol in serum. RESULTS: The body weight reduction (1374% vs HF control, Po0.05) by PS administration was highly correlated to the food intake restriction (Pearson's linear coefficient r ¼ 0.752, Po0.005). The in vitro inhibition of lipase by each isolated compound and mixture of PS were virtually identical. Consequently, the fecal TG excretion was increased by 2.1-3.2 folds depending on the dose of PS. The serum TG and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were decreased without noticeable changes in HDLcholesterol levels. Concomitantly, the contents of the hepatic TG, cholesterol, and the liver surface fat pads were decreased in ubiquity, but no noticeable biochemical abnormalities or histological tissue damages were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of PS produced profound effects on the control of obesity and lipid metabolism, which resulted in LDL-cholesterol reduction. PS also caused a remarkable reduction in calorie intake, which was highly correlated to the body weight loss. These results suggest that PS has a greater role in antiobesity, hypolipidemia, and liver protection than previously thought. Hence, PS could be a potential therapeutic alternative in the treatment of obesity and hyperlipidemia.

A 2 X 2 factorial experiment was designed to investigate the effects of excess vitamin D3 and cage density on the incidence and severity of leg abnormalities in broiler chickens. One hundred eighty 1-day-old broiler chicks were randomly divided into densities of either 10 (680 cm2/chick) or 20 (340 cm2/chick) per cage and fed a diet containing 22% protein and 2879 kcal/kg metabolizable energy formulated to meet National Research Council requirements. Two levels of vitamin D3 were incorporated to supply either 400 ICU or 4000 ICU/kg feed. High density and excess vitamin D3 resulted in a significant (P less than 0.05) increase in the incidence of twisted leg. Differences in incidence could not be explained through differences in body weight or feed consumption. However, broilers fed the excess vitamin D3 consumed more feed but gained less body weight, suggesting that metabolic stress may have been involved. High density appeared to increase the severity of the disorders, whereas excess vitamin D3 had no effect on severity.