From 5 weeks of age, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) were fed a diet based on dry cells of Euglena (Euglena gracilis Z; at 25% in diet) with enriched docosahexaenoic acid (DHA-Euglena) until natural death or sacrifice at 20 weeks of age, and the effects of the diet on blood pressure, incidence of stroke lesions and life-span were examined. Spontaneous elevation of blood pressure was depressed by the DHA-Euglena diet after the start of feeding, and after 10 weeks of age the blood pressure remained constant at 210 to 230mmHg. The life-span of the DHA-Euglena-fed group was marked longer than that of the control group, and the incidence of cerebral stroke lesions was lower than that in the control rats. On the other hand, a defatted Euglena diet (at 20% in diet) exerted little effect on blood pressure, but obvious prolongation of life-span was observed. Suppression of aortic hypertrophy was recognized in SHRSP fed the DHA-Euglena diet, and a high level of aortic elastin was maintained. The activities of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) in the thoracic aorta and mesenteric artery were lower in the DHA-Euglena group than in the control group (p<0.05). The lipid peroxide (TBARS) level and activities of related enzymes in the blood of the DHA-Euglena group showed no difference from those in the control group. Prevention of blood pressure elevation, reduction of the incidence of cerebral stroke lesions and prolongation of life-span in SHRSP were more evident after feeding with DHA-Euglena than with ordinary Euglena. These results indicate that Euglena rich in DHA has an augmented suppressive effect against hypertensive disease in SHRSP.
Stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) were fed a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)-Euglena diet which was prepared from dry cells of Euglena gracilis Z enriched with DHA as a major protein source from 8 weeks until 20 weeks of age. The effects of the DHA-Euglena diet on lipid metabolism in the serum and liver were then investigated and the results obtained were as follows: 1) The DHA-Euglena diet had no effect on growth. Moreover, no marked change in blood pressure was observed. 2) Serum concentrations of total cholesterol and phospholipid were significantly lower than those in the control group. In addition, the serum levels of apolipoproteins A-I, A-IV, B and E were also significantly lower than those in the control group. These results suggested a hypolipidemic effect of the DHA-Euglena diet. 3) The hypolipidemic effect of the DHA-Euglena diet was due to decreases in very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), judging from the distributions of lipid and apolipoproteins among the various lipoprotein fractions. 4) The relative weight of the liver to total body weight was significantly elevated and the hepatic content of phospholipid was significantly decreased compared with the control group. However, there was no significant change in the activities of microsomal
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