Abstract
ABSTRACTThis experiment was designed to evaluate the potential for dietary alfalfa saponins (AS) to influence cholesterol (Ch) concentrations and the mRNA expressions of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) that concludes transporters G5 (ABCG5) and G8 (ABCG8) in the livers of laying hens. Hundred and fifty laying hens (27 weeks old) were divided into five treatment groups randomly. Five replicates were assigned to each treatment group consisting of six birds per replicate. The same basic diet was used for all groups with supplementation of 0 (control), 60, 120, 240, and 480 mg/kg of AS, which was given ad libitum to hens for 60 days. The results showed that AS in the diets of laying hens could effectively reduce egg Ch concentrations, and increase the excretion of bile acid by the liver with the expression levels of ABCG5 and ABCG8 improving. Our study found that dietary AS could effect cholesterol metabolism by up-regulating the expression of G5 and G8 in hens, and that AS is a potential agent for reducing Ch concentrations and 120 mg/kg of AS in the diet was suitable and effective for laying hens.
Highlights
KEY WORDS Alfalfa saponin; cholesterol; ABCG5; ABCG8; laying hen Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death worldwide, which occurs more in developed countries
Our results demonstrated that alfalfa saponins (AS) had a remarkable effect on ABCG5 and ABCG8 expression levels in hen’s liver, and the best group was the one with the addition of 120 mg/kg of AS to the diet, which was consistent with the Ch content in eggs in this study
This study showed that ABCG5 and ABCG8 expression levels in the liver of laying hens were associated with the concentration of Ch and bile acid in the body
Summary
Cardiovascular disease (mainly heart disease and stroke) is a major cause of death worldwide, which occurs more in developed countries. The accumulation of plant and animal sterols in the blood, which is the normal route of sterols exit in the body, is caused by increasing the sterols fraction absorption in the diet and decreasing the sterols secretion into the bile (Salen et al 1989; Miettinen et al 2006). Egg consumption has been decreasing considerably because Ch can increase the risk of heart disease (Hargis 1988; Spence et al 2012). This has been confirmed in the National Cholesterol Education Program Diet (Dimitrova-Karamfilova et al 2012) and the American Heart Association Dietary Recommendations (Lichtenstein et al 2006)
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