Synergistic effect of eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched phospholipids and sea cucumber saponin on orotic acid-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming an increasingly prevalent chronic liver disease all over the world. The present study was undertaken to explore the synergistic effects of sea cucumber saponins (SCS) and eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched phospholipids (EPA-PL) at ratios of 0.5 : 0.5 and 1 : 1 on NAFLD and demonstrate possible protective mechanisms. It was found that the combination of EPA-PL and SCS at half dose exhibited better effects than EPA-PL or SCS alone and the combination of EPA-PL and SCS at full dose in alleviating orotic acid (OA)-induced symptoms including growth parameters, serum parameters and liver function. Further evaluation of the mechanism illustrated that EPA-PL and SCS combination at the ratio of 0.5 : 0.5 could markedly reduce the mRNA expressions of fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme genes and significantly increase expression of genes relevant to fatty acid β-oxidation including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and its target genes (CPT1, CPT2 and ACOX1), suggesting that the protection of the EPA-PL and SCS combination at the ratio of 0.5 : 0.5 against OA-induced NAFLD might be mainly via lipogenesis inhibition and β-oxidation enhancement in the liver. The synergistic effects of EPA-PL and SCS make it possible to reduce the doses of EPA-PL or SCS to avoid side effects, which is of value for the development of dietary supplements or functional foods for preventing or treating NAFLD.

Cytotoxic Potential of the Coelomic Fluid Extracted from the Sea Cucumber Holothuria tubulosa against Triple-Negative MDA-MB231 Breast Cancer Cells

“…In light of the literature data, sea cucumber-derived anti-cancer molecules that exhibit this size fall into the categories of triterpenes, glycosaminoglycans, and peptides [8,50]. At present, we cannot exclude the existence of potential synergic activities, as reported by Guo et al [51].…”

Knockdown of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) inhibits fatty acid oxidation and reduces very low density lipoprotein assembly and secretion in calf hepatocytes

“…The process of β-oxidation is regulated by various enzymes, including ACSL1, CPT1, and CPT2 (Zhou et al, 2015;Guo et al, 2018). Located in the outer mitochondrial membrane, ACSL1 is the rate-limiting enzyme for fatty acid activation (Bonnefont et al, 2004;Warfel et al, 2017); it catalyzes long-chain fatty acids to long-chain acyl-coA; then, fatty acyl-coA is transported to mitochondria by CPT1 and CPT2 for β-oxidation (Eaton, 2002).…”

Characterization and Absorption Kinetics of a Novel Multifunctional Nanoliposome Stabilized by Sea Cucumber Saponins Instead of Cholesterol

“…Saponins were important secondary metabolites and bioactive substances for sea cucumbers. A large number of studies have confirmed that sea cucumber-derived saponins exhibited antitumor, antidiabetes, anti-obesity, antihyperlipidemia, and other functions, which have been widely used in the pharmaceutical and functional food industries. − Holothurin A (HA) and Echinoside A (EA) were two major saponins in sea cucumber Pearsonothuria graeffei . Their chemical structures are shown in Figure A,B, which were similar to cholesterol.…”