Abstract
To elucidate the hypocholesterolemic mechanism of Kabosu juice residue (an ethanol-precipitated fraction of Kabosu juice: KJR), we investigated the effects of KJR on lipid metabolism in the serum and liver using male stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) as an animal model. Six rats, 7 weeks of age, were fed on a high-cholesterol diet containing KJR for 2 weeks. The increase in serum total cholesterol was markedly suppressed in comparison with the control group (N=6), due to suppression of increases in the very-low-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein fractions. The concentration of serum apolipoprotein (apo) A-I was significantly decreased and that of serum apoA-IV was significantly increased, while no change was observed in the lipid content of the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) fraction, suggesting an alteration of HDL composition. In the liver, increases in the contents of cholesterol and triglyceride were markedly suppressed. In addition, the activities of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase [EC 1.14. 13. 17] and acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase [EC 2.3. 1.26] were significantly low.
