Dietary saponins of sea cucumber alleviate orotic acid-induced fatty liver in rats via PPARα and SREBP-1c signaling

Abstract

BackgroundNonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common chronic liver disease in the world, and is becoming increasingly prevalent. Saponins of sea cucumber (SSC) are proven to exhibit various biological activities. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to examine the effect of saponins extracted from sea cucumber (Pearsonothuria graeffei) on the preventive activity of fatty liver in rats.MethodsMale Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups, including normal control group, fatty liver model group, SSC-treated group with SSC at levels of 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.05%. Model rats were established by administration with 1% orotic acid (OA). After the experiment period, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and hepatic lipid concentrations were determined. To search for a possible mechanism, we examined the changes of key enzymes and transcriptional factors involved in hepatic lipids biosynthesis, fatty acid β-oxidation.ResultsBoth 0.03% and 0.05% SSC treatment alleviated hepatic steatosis and reduced serum TG and TC concentration significantly in OA fed rats. Hepatic lipogenic enzymes, such as fatty acid synthase (FAS), malic enzyme (ME), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activities were inhibited by SSC treatment. SSC also decreased the gene expression of FAS, ME, G6PDH and sterol-regulatory element binding protein (SREBP-1c). Otherwise, the rats feeding with SSC showed increased carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT) activity in the liver. Hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARα), together with its target gene CPT and acyl-CoA oxidase (ACO) mRNA expression were also upregulated by SSC.ConclusionsAccording to our study, the lipids-lowering effect of dietary SSC may be partly associated with the enhancement of β-oxidation via PPARα activation. In addition, the inhibited SREBP-1c- mediated lipogenesis caused by SSC may also contribute to alleviating fatty liver.

Phytochemical characterization and effect of Calendula officinalis, Hypericum perforatum, and Salvia officinalis infusions on obesity-associated cardiovascular risk

“…Total flavonoids, phytosterols, and alkaloids contents were highly correlated with AUC values estimated from the oil tolerance assay (R 2 = 0.95, p \ 0.01; R 2 = 0.95, p \ 0.01; and R 2 = 0.99, p \ 0.01, respectively) and might be linked to their ability to inhibit pancreatic lipase, given the positive correlations observed (R 2 = 0.78, p \ 0.01; R 2 = 0.78, p \ 0.01; and R 2 = 0.90, p \ 0.01, respectively). These results suggest that the hypolipidemic effect of these compounds could be related to this mechanism, whereas the protective effect exerted by saponins could be related to other mechanisms, such as decreased lipogenesis and increased fatty acid b-oxidation (Hu et al, 2010).…”

Absorption and pharmacokinetic study of two sulphated triterpenoid saponins in rat after oral and intravenous administration of saponin extracts of Pearsonothuria graeffei by HPLC-MS

“…Triterpene saponins, the most important secondary metabolites and bioactive components of sea cucumbers (Zou et al, 2003), have been proven to exhibit various biological activities including antifungal, cytotoxic, haemolytic, cytostatic, and immunomodulatory effects (Bordbar, Anwar, & Saari, 2011;Dong, Xue, Yu, Xu, & Chen, 2008). Recent studies demonstrated that sea cucumber saponins can significantly reduce serum and hepatic lipids, as well as decrease serum glucose and insulin levels and adipose accumulation (Hu et al, 2010;Wang, Hua, Liu, Liu, & Yu, 2014a;Wang et al, 2014b). It was also found that some sulphated saponins have potential antitumor activity (Yu et al, 2015).…”

Cosmeceuticals Properties of Sea Cucumbers: Prospects and Trends

“…The structural features of these compounds are quite comparable to those of the bioactives from ganoderma, ginseng, and other medicinally-popular tonic herbs [63]. Additionally, one recent study revealed that sea cucumber dietary saponins have shown a preventive effect in alleviating the orotic acid-induced fatty liver in rats [69].…”