Comparative effects of safflower oil and perilla oil on serum and hepatic lipid levels, fatty acid compositions of serum and hepatic phospholipids, and hepatic mRNA expressions of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase, LDL receptor, and cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase in young and adult rats

Abstract

Male Wistar rats, 4 and 33 weeks of age, were fed the diets containing safflower oil (SO-diet, 77.3% linoleic acid) or perilla oil (PO-diet, 58.4% α-linolenic acid) for 7 days. Serum total cholesterol was lower on the PO-diet in both ages. On the other hand, hepatic cholesterol and phospholipids were significantly higher in the PO group than in the SO group of the adult rats. The PO group showed significantly lower 20:4 n-6 but higher 18:2 n-6 in hepatic phosphatidylcholine compared with the SO group in both ages. Hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase mRNA was significantly lower on the PO-diet than on the SO-diet irrespective of age. The present results show that α-linolenic acid has a higher hypocholesterolemic ability than linoleic acid in rats irrespective of age and these fatty acids behaved differently in affecting hepatic mRNA expressions of HMG-CoA reductase, LDL receptor, and cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase.