Effects of Garlic Powder and Taurine Supplementation on Abdominal Fat, Muscle Weight, and Blood Amino Acid Pattern in Ovariectomized Rats

Abstract

Natural or surgically induced menopause is associated with increased levels of blood total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol and risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) (Cuevas et al., 2003; Kishida et al., 2003). These changes are a consequence of reduction in the estrogen level (Kishida et al., 2003). Previous studies suggest that taurine and garlic have beneficial effects on cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women (Gandhi et al., 1992; Kishida et al., 2003; Tanamai et al., 2004). Taurine (2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) is a sulfur-containing -amino acid that is the most abundant free amino acid in many mammalian tissues. It has many physiological functions including conjugation with bile acids, modulation of calcium levels, osmolarity maintenance, antioxidation, membrane protection, etc. (Redmond et al., 1998; Sethupathy et al., 2002). Garlic is one of the most commonly used herbal remedies and considered to have antihyperlipidemic as well as other cardioprotective properties in many human and animal studies (Peleg et al., 2003). It is also reported that plasma free amino acid levels may reflect the status of blood lipids and protein breakdown and utilization in obese subjects (Jeevanandam et al., 1991). However, the effects of taurine and garlic have been only little studied on the blood amino acid pattern in postmenopausal hyperlipidemic women. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to examine the effect of dietary taurine and garlic powder supplementation on abdominal fat, muscle weight and blood amino acid pattern in hyperlipidemic rats induced by ovariectomy.