Comparison of the Improvement Effect of Deep Ocean Water with Different Mineral Composition on the High Fat Diet-Induced Blood Lipid and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Mouse Model.

Chung-Yu Lee,Chun-Lin Lee

doi:10.3390/nu13051732

Abstract

Accumulated lipid droplets in liver cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Deep ocean water (DOW) containing high levels of magnesium, calcium, and potassium, etc. was proven to suppress hepatic lipid in obese rats fed high fat diet in the previous study. However, the effect of mineral compositions of DOW on the prevention of NAFLD is still unclear. This study removed calcium and potassium from DOW for modulating the mineral composition, and further compared the effects of DOW (D1(Mg + Ca + K)), DOW with low potassium (D2(Mg + Ca)), and DOW with low calcium and potassium (D3(Mg)) on the prevention of NAFLD in the mice model fed with high fat diet. In these results, DOW with high magnesium levels reduced serum and liver triglyceride and cholesterol levels and serum AST and ALT activities. However, when the calcium and/or potassium minerals were removed from DOW, the effects of reduction of triglyceride level, inhibition of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-α) expressions, and activation of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione reductase activities would be weaker. In conclusion, DOW including magnesium, calcium and potassium minerals has the strongest preventive effect on NAFLD in a mouse model by increasing the antioxidant system and inhibiting fatty acid biosynthesis.

Highlights

The liver is an essential metabolic organ of the human body, and long-term liver damage causes liver cell injury
Over-intake of calories and fat causes lipids to accumulate in the liver, forming fatty liver, incurring lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, and inflammation, gradually developing steatohepatitis, and leading to liver cirrhosis, fibrosis, and cancer [5]
A previous study has shown that a high fat diet can cause mitochondrial damage and reduce fatty acid oxidation and metabolism, exacerbating obesity, diabetes, and metabolic diseases [18]

Summary

Introduction

The liver is an essential metabolic organ of the human body, and long-term liver damage causes liver cell injury. Combined with situations such as steatosis, fatty liver and liver inflammation may lead to liver cirrhosis, liver fibrosis, and even liver cancer. In a model where a high fat diet-induced obesity in hamsters, DOW reduced liver lipid accumulation by discharging lipids and bile acids through feces, and it increased fatty acid oxidation and decreased liver lipid accumulation by enhancing peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-α), retinoid X receptor alpha (RXR-α), and uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2) mRNA expression levels. A previous study has shown that a high fat diet can cause mitochondrial damage and reduce fatty acid oxidation and metabolism, exacerbating obesity, diabetes, and metabolic diseases [18]. DOW facilitates mitochondrial biogenesis and enhances fatty acid oxidation and metabolism and reduces the occurrence of obesity [19]

Objectives

Methods

Results