N-(β- D-Xylopyranosyl)taurine Sodium Salt Supplementation Has Beneficial Effect on the Hepatic Antioxidant System of Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet and β-Alanine.

Abstract

N-(β-d-Xylopyranosyl)taurine sodium salt (T-Xyl) was newly synthesized from taurine and xylose. We hypothesized that T-Xyl would have positive effects on the hepatic antioxidant system of rats fed a high-fat diet and β-alanine. β-Alanine was administered for induction of taurine depletion by dissolving in feed water (3 % w/v). Fifty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats (4-week-old) were randomly divided into seven groups with eight rats per group and fed an experimental diet for 6 weeks (N, normal diet; HF, high-fat diet; HFT, high-fat diet + 4 mmol/kg/day taurine; HFA, high-fat diet + 3 % β-alanine; and HFTX 2,4,6, high-fat diet + 3 % β-alanine + 2, 4, 6 mmol/kg/ day T-Xyl). To investigate the effect of T-Xyl on the hepatic antioxidant system, we examined the activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) in serum, hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and glutathione (GSH) content, and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. In addition, we evaluated the histology of hepatocytes. The activity of GPT in serum was significantly lower in the HFT and HFTX groups than in the HF group (p < 0.05). TBARS content increased following administration of the HF diet, but significantly decreased upon administration of taurine and T-Xyl (p < 0.05). GPx activity was significantly higher in the HFTX4 and HFTX6 groups than in the HFA group. These results suggest that T-Xyl supplementation in rats fed a high-fat diet and β-alanine seems to have beneficial effects on the hepatic antioxidant system.