In Vivo Effects of Free Form Astaxanthin Powder on Anti-Oxidation and Lipid Metabolism with High-Cholesterol Diet

• Published in: PloS one 2015-08, Vol.10 (8), p.e0134733-e0134733
• Main Authors: Chen, Yung-Yi, Lee, Pei-Chi, Wu, Yi-Long, Liu, Li-Yun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorption; Alanine; Alanine transaminase; Analysis; Animal Feed; Animals; Antioxidants; Antioxidants (Nutrients); Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Ascorbic acid; Aspartate aminotransferase; Astaxanthin; Carotenoids; Catalase; Cholesterol; Cholesterol - administration & dosage; Cricetinae; Diet; Eggs; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Fish; Food science; Free form; Free radicals; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Gene expression; Glutathione; Glycoproteins; Hamsters; High cholesterol diet; Intestinal Absorption; Laboratory animals; Lipid metabolism; Lipid Metabolism - drug effects; Lipids; Lipids - blood; Liver; Liver - metabolism; Liver Function Tests; Male; Malondialdehyde; Malondialdehyde - metabolism; Mesocricetus auratus; Metabolism; Nutrition research; Oxidation; Oxidation-Reduction - drug effects; Peroxidase; Physiology; Powder; R&D; Research & development; Rodents; Signal transduction; Tocopherol; Triglycerides; Vigna radiata; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; Xanthophylls - administration & dosage
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134733

Astaxanthin extracted from Pomacea canaliculata eggs was made into free-form astaxanthin powder (FFAP) and its effects on lipid metabolism, liver function, antioxidants activities and astaxanthin absorption rate were investigated. 45 hamsters were split into 5 groups and fed with normal diet, high-cholesterol control (0.2% cholesterol), 1.6FFAP (control+1.6% FFAP), 3.2FFAP (control+3.2% FFAP) and 8.0FFAP (control+8.0% FFAP), respectively, for 6 weeks. FFAP diets significantly decreased the liver total cholesterol, triglyceride levels and increased liver fatty acids (C20:5n3; C22:6n3) compositions. It decreased plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. In terms of anti-oxidative activities, we found 8.0 FFAP diet significantly decreased plasma and liver malonaldehyde (4.96±1.96 μg TEP eq./mL and 1.56±0.38 μg TEP eq./g liver) and liver 8-isoprostane levels (41.48±13.69 μg 8-ISOP/g liver). On the other hand, it significantly increased liver catalase activity (149.10±10.76 μmol/min/g liver), Vitamin C (2082.97±142.23 μg/g liver), Vitamin E (411.32±81.67 μg/g liver) contents, and glutathione levels (2.13±0.42 mg GSH eq./g liver). Furthermore, 80% of astaxanthin absorption rates in all FFAP diet groups suggest FFAP is an effective form in astaxanthin absorption. Finally, astaxanthin was found to re-distribute to the liver and eyes in a dose dependent manner. Taken together, our results suggested that the appropriate addition of FFAP into high cholesterol diets increases liver anti-oxidative activity and reduces the concentration of lipid peroxidase and therefore, it may be beneficial as a material in developing healthy food.