Assessment of the in Vitro Antithrombotic Properties of Sardine (Sardina pilchardus) Fillet Lipids and Cod Liver Oil

Gregory Morphis,Aggeliki Kyriazopoulou,Constantinos Demopoulos,Ioannis Zabetakis,Constantina Nasopoulou,Eleni Sioriki

doi:10.3390/fishes1010001

Gregory Morphis, Aggeliki Kyriazopoulou + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes1010001

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Abstract

The aim of the current study was to compare the biological activities of total polar lipids (TPL) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) polar lipid fractions of sardine fillet and cod liver oil against atherogenesis. TPL and TLC polar lipid fractions obtained from these two sources were assessed for their ability to inhibit the platelet-activating-factor (PAF)-induced platelet aggregation (PAF-antagonists) or to induce platelet aggregation (PAF-agonists), since PAF plays a crucial role in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis. This study focused on the polar lipids since previous studies have underlined that the antithrombotic properties of foodstuffs are mainly attributed to polar lipid micro-constituents. TPL of sardine fillet induced platelet aggregation, while TPL of cod liver had a bimodal effect on platelets. TLC polar lipid fractions of both samples exhibited in vitro aggregatory and inhibitory activity towards platelets. However, TLC sardine polar lipid fractions showed stronger in vitro antithrombotic activities than the cod liver oil ones. These data constitute evidence of the putative contribution of fish polar lipids against cardiovascular diseases, underling firstly the beneficial effect of fish and fish lipids as functional foodstuffs against atherogenesis and secondly the more important role of sardine polar lipids as opposed to cod liver oil.

Highlights

The main beneficial health effect of fish and fish oil consumption has been attributed to their protective activity against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which has been demonstrated by epidemiological studies [1]
In the research reported here, we have focused on the polar lipids of cod liver and sardine fillet, since previous studies have proved that the antithrombotic properties of foodstuffs are mainly attributed to polar lipid microconstituents
These two fish species have been chosen since sardine is the raw ingredient in the manufacture of dietary supplements of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and cod liver oil is widely used as a health supplement

Summary

Introduction

The main beneficial health effect of fish and fish oil consumption has been attributed to their protective activity against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which has been demonstrated by epidemiological studies [1]. Ω-3 PUFA have been found to exert potential protective activity against thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases [2]. It has been suggested that other substances, apart from ω-3 PUFAs, could be responsible for the antithrombotic properties of marine fish [3,4]. Scientific data reported the presence of lipid micro-constituents in different fish species that have been found to exert in vitro anti-thrombotic properties [5,6,7,8] and in vivo anti-atherogenic activity [9].

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