Eugenol Reduces LDL Cholesterol and Hepatic Steatosis in Hypercholesterolemic Rats by Modulating TRPV1 Receptor

• Published in: Scientific reports 2019-09, Vol.9 (1), p.14003-10, Article 14003
• Main Authors: Harb, Amani A., Bustanji, Yasser K., Almasri, Ihab M., Abdalla, Shtaywy S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 14; 631/154/436/2387; 64; 692/699/1702/393; 96; Alanine; Alanine transaminase; Alkaline phosphatase; Animals; Antioxidants; Capsaicin receptors; Catalase; Cholesterol; Cholesterol - blood; Cholesterol, LDL - blood; Cholesterol, LDL - metabolism; Down-regulation; Enzymes; Essential oils; Eugenol; Eugenol - therapeutic use; Fatty liver; Fatty Liver - drug therapy; Fatty Liver - metabolism; Food plants; High cholesterol diet; High density lipoprotein; High fat diet; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase; Hypolipidemic Agents - therapeutic use; Lipoproteins; Lipoproteins, HDL - blood; Liver; Low density lipoprotein; Male; Medicinal plants; Molecular Docking Simulation; multidisciplinary; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Rodents; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Steatosis; Superoxide dismutase; Transient receptor potential proteins; Triglycerides - blood; TRPV Cation Channels - drug effects; TRPV Cation Channels - metabolism
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50352-4

Eugenol, a component of essential oils of medicinal and food plants, has a hypolipidemic effect in experimental animals although its mechanism of action is still unclear. This study aims to explore the mechanism of the hypolipidemic effect of eugenol in rats fed a high cholesterol and fat diet (HCFD). Eugenol significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), atherogenic index (AI) but not high-density lipoproteins (HDL) or triglycerides (TG). Eugenol also decreased steatosis and hepatic inflammation in liver sections, decreased hepatomegaly, and the hepatic marker enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and increased the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity in hypercholesterolemic rats. Eugenol did not inhibit hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase but caused down-regulation of transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV1) channels in the liver. Docking simulation using fast, rigid exhaustive docking (FRED) software indicated a tail-up/head-down interaction of eugenol with TRPV1 channel. Data indicate that eugenol does not inhibit HMG-CoA reductase but rather induces its action by interaction with TRPV1 channels.