Dietary chitosan enhances hepatic CYP7A1 activity and reduces plasma and liver cholesterol concentrations in diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats

Abstract

The present study was performed to elucidate the hypocholesterolemic action of chitosan on the diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=24) were fed with chitosan-free diet (Control), diets containing 2% or 5% chitosan for 4 weeks. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by adding 1% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic acid to all diets. Body weight gain and food intake of rats did not differ among the groups. The chitosan treated groups showed significant improvement in the plasma concentration of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol compared to the control group (p<0.05). Also, the chitosan treated groups decreased the liver concentration of total lipid and total cholesterol compared to the control group (p<0.05). The activity of hepatic cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), the rate-limiting enzyme in the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids, was increased by 123% and 165% for the 2% or 5% chitosan diets, respectively. These findings suggest that enhancement of hepatic CYP7A1 activity may be a mechanism, which can partially account for the hypocholesterolemic effect of dietary chitosan in cholesterol metabolism.

Dietary fermented products usingkojimold and sweet potato-shochudistillery by-product promotes hepatic and serum cholesterol levels and modulates gut microbiota in mice fed a high-cholesterol diet

“…Furthermore, LXRα is a nuclear receptor and regulates the expression of Cyp7a1, which is a rate-limiting enzyme for BA synthesis. Although a previous study indicated that an intake of 5% chitosan increases the activities of hepatic Cyp7a1 in Sprague-Dawley rats (Moon et al, 2007), FPs decreased its protein expression instead of showing an increase. Therefore, cholesterol accumulation in FPs group may be explained by insufficient catabolism from cholesterol to BA.…”

Effect of Supplementation With Chitosan on Weight, Cardiometabolic, and Other Risk Indices in Wistar Rats Fed Normal and High-Fat/High-Cholesterol Diets Ad Libitum

“…However, chitosan significantly decreased the mean values of HDL-C of the high-fat/highcholesterol fed group (group D), but not the group fed normal chow (group B). Therefore, the effect on lipid profile appeared to be dependent on composition of diet and could partially explain inconsistencies in results reported in previous animal studies [14][15][16][17][18]47,[54][55][56] employing different dietary regimens.…”

“…Beneficial effects of chitosan on plasma lipids were reported in various animal [14][15][16][17][18]47,[54][55][56] and human studies. [48][49][50][51][52][53] However, results were inconsistent, with some reporting a decrease in TGs, 14,18,52 others an increase in HDL-C, 18,52,57 a decrease in total, 15,16,55,[57][58][59][60] and/or LDL-C. 15,16,52,[57][58][59] Some of these studies were very short, lasting 2 to 6 weeks only 18,50,54,57,58,60 ; hence, changes in lipid fractions were minimal. This study lasted for 12 weeks, thus allowing adequate time period to detect changes in plasma lipids.…”

Decreased total cholesterol levels in rats administered with chitosan from Green mussel (Perna viridis L.) shells

“…Chitosan can bind fat and remove it with dirt because this linear polysaccharide is a fiber that cannot be digested by the body (Pratiwi, 2014). Chitosan treatment can increase 7α-hydroxylase cholesterol (CYP7A1) The Decreasing of Total … (Idacahyati et al,) 163 activity in the liver, which is associated with a decrease in levels of plasma cholesterol (Moon et al, 2007). CYP7A1 is a specific enzyme in the liver that catalyzes the biosynthesis of bile acids from cholesterol (Kim and Kim, 2010).…”