Effects and Mechanisms of Chitosan and ChitosanOligosaccharide on Hepatic Lipogenesis and Lipid Peroxidation, Adipose Lipolysis, and Intestinal Lipid Absorption in Rats with High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity.

Shing-Hwa Liu,Meng-Tsan Chiang,Rui-Yi Chen

doi:10.3390/ijms22031139

Abstract

Chitosan and its derivative, chitosan oligosaccharide (CO), possess hypolipidemic and anti-obesity effects. However, it is still unclear if the mechanisms are different or similar between chitosan and CO. This study was designed to investigate and compare the effects of CO and high-molecular-weight chitosan (HC) on liver lipogenesis and lipid peroxidation, adipose lipolysis, and intestinal lipid absorption in high-fat (HF) diet-fed rats for 12 weeks. Rats were divided into four groups: normal control diet (NC), HF diet, HF diet+5% HC, and HF diet+5% CO. Both HC and CO supplementation could reduce liver lipid biosynthesis, but HC had a better effect than CO on improving liver lipid accumulation in HF diet-fed rats. The increased levels of triglyceride decreased lipolysis rate, and increased lipoprotein lipase activity in the perirenal adipose tissue of HF diet-fed rats could be significantly reversed by both HC and CO supplementation. HC, but not CO, supplementation promoted liver antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities and reduced liver lipid peroxidation. In the intestines, CO, but not HC, supplementation reduced lipid absorption by reducing the expression of fabp2 and fatp4 mRNA. These results suggest that HC and CO have different mechanisms for improving lipid metabolism in HF diet-fed rats.

Highlights

Graduate Institute of Toxicology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10051, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 10051, Taiwan
There was no significant difference in food intake among the HF diet-fed, high-molecularweight chitosan (HC), and chitosan oligosaccharide (CO) groups (p > 0.05), the food intake of both HC and CO groups was decreased compared to normal control diet (NC) group (p < 0.05)
The food efficiency in HF diet-fed, HC, and CO groups were higher than the NC group (p < 0.05), while it was lower in both HC and CO groups than that of the HF group (p < 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Obesity is one of the major risk factors for the occurrence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) [2,3]. Hypercholesterolemia is known as a critical risk factor for the initiation and progression of NAFLD [2,3]. How to prevent or improve obesity is an important issue to decline the NAFLD prevalence. Chitosan is a cationic high-molecular-weight polymer in nature. It is a partially deacetylated polymer of N-acetylglucosamine derived from polysaccharide chitin and is primarily extracted from shells of crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs and from squid pens [4,5]. Due to its functional properties such as antibacterial activity, non-toxicity, easy modification and biodegradability, it is a biologically active polymer with a wide range of applications, including agriculture, food processing, water and waste treatment, cosmetics, published maps and institutional affiliations

Methods

Results

Conclusion