Intake of pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus (F.A.C. Weber) Britton & Rose) beneficially affects the cholesterolemic profile of dyslipidemic C57BL/6 mice

Abstract

Dyslipidemias are disorders in the serum lipid profile whose numbers of cases have been increasing annually, however, pharmacological therapy is expensive and may cause side effects, such as myalgia and liver disease. In this sense, the natural products, which are rich in antioxidant and therapeutic components, have been proposed as an alternative therapy. An example of this is pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus), that is a cactaceous fruit rich in phytochemicals, and could be exhibit beneficial effects on lipid metabolism. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the activity of the edible portion of pitaya (pulp and seed) on dyslipidemic mice's metabolism. Firstly, the composition of pitaya was assessed by UPLC-QTOF-MSE and oligosaccharides, quercetin, and betanine, among other phytochemicals, were putatively identified. In the in vivo assays, the mice were divided into 6 groups (n = 8) which were called according to treatment received: Standard Diet (SD), Hypercholesterolemic Diet (HD), Simvastatin (SIMV), Pitaya 100 mg/kg (P100), Pitaya 200 mg/kg (P200) and Pitaya 400 mg/kg (P400). For dyslipidemia induction, the daily administration of pitaya in C57BL/6 mice with dyslipidemia (HD, SIMV, P100, P200 and P400). The pitaya treatment resulted in an increase HDL-cholesterol, and a decrease in total and LDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerols, glycemia, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. The red pitaya showed therapeutic potential in dyslipidemia disorders and had a hypoglycemic effect, contributing to reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.