Beneficial effects of DDG in ischemic heart disease

Abstract

The use of cereal grains for biofuels in order to provide clean, alternative energy source is predicted to increase in the next decade. One of the bi-products of this biological process is dried distillers grain (DDG) which is rich in protein, starch, beta-glucans, arabinoxylans, lignans, sphingolipids, antioxidants / phenolic acids, pre / probiotics and fibre. Therefore, these dried distillers grains have potential for use as a functional food and/or nutraceutical. However, the cardiprotective effects of DDG have never been examined. In this study we wanted to evaluate the beneficial effects of DDG in ischemic heart disease. For this purpose, cardiac myocytes were isolated from rats fed normal (control) and 20% enriched DDG (treated) diet for 21 days. Parameters such as food and water intake, body weight and blood glucose levels were similar in control and treated groups. However, mineral oil layering induced ischemic cell death in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVM) isolated from hearts of DDG fed rats was significantly lower compared to ARVM isolated from hearts of rats fed normal diet. This data suggest that DDG protects the heart from ischemic cell death.