The Effect of Makgeolli on Blood Flow, Serum Lipid Improvement and Inhibition of ACE in vitro

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Makgeolli (MG) and Makgeolli GiGemi (MGG) on blood flow, serum lipid improvement in vivo, and inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) in vitro. The activities of serum AST and ALT were increased by ovariectomy. Serum AST levels were decreased to 77.71±13.97 and 74.57±14.90 unit/ml in the OVX-MG50 and OVX-MGG50 groups compared to the OVX-control group (91.14±12.02 unit/ml). Serum ALT levels were decreased to 34.00±8.41 and 30.43±3.60 unit/ml in OVX-MG50 and OVX-MGG50 groups compared to the OVX-control group (37.14±5.40 unit/ml). Serum total cholesterol and triglyceride contents decreased in the sham group compared with OVX-control group by ovariectomy. Six weeks feeding of MG and MGG resulted in a decrease to 116.14±36.02 and 109.14±11.55 mg/dl compared to the OVX-control group (120.43±8.36 mg/dl) in serum total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were decreased to 52.43±12.41 and 47.29±12.08 mg/dl in the OVX-MG50 and OVX-MGG50 groups compared to the OVX-control group (58.57±5.47 mg/dl). The level of HDL-cholesterol in the OVX-control group was significantly reduced to 51.29±20.49 mg/dl compared to the sham group (72.29±10.29 mg/dl), but it was increased to 70.71±19.53 and 62.00±20.20 mg/dl with MG and MGG supplementation. Furthermore, the effect of the MG group was higher than the MGG group. Microscopic observation showed that whole blood passed smoothly through the micro channels in the MG and MGG supplemented groups. The platelet aggregation ability of the groups treated with MG and MGG was less than that of the OVX-control group. In vitro assay, the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity was significantly inhibited by MG and MGG (82.6% and 68.9% inhibition at 0.4 g/ml). These results suggest that the beneficial effects of MG and MGG may be used to improve on the lipid metabolic syndrome of menopausal women. In addition, MG and MGG might improve blood homeostasis mediated activities via antiplatelets and MG and MGG may be used as antihypertensive functional foods and nutraceuticals.

Immunostimulatory Effects of Polysaccharides Isolated from Makgeolli (Traditional Korean Rice Wine)

“…Makgeolli also contains vitamin B complex, various organic acids, and physiologically active substances, such as inositol, acetylcholine and ten different essential amino acids [2]. Makgeolli has been cited for its biological activities, including its anti-cancer activity, anti-inflammatory activity, improvement of cardiovascular diseases, and suppression of preadipocyte differentiation, in addition to its nutritional value [3,4,5,6]. However, few studies have been conducted on the activity of makgeolli polysaccharides.…”