Olea europaea Linn (Oleaceae) Fruit
Pulp Exhibits Hypocholesterolemic and Hepatoprotective
Effects via Regulation of Peroxisome
Proliferation-Activated Receptor Alpha in High-Fat
Diet-Fed Rats
Moo-Sung Kim2,
Sushruta Koppula1, Soo-Jin Sung1,3,4,
Sang-Rin Lee2, Yong-Dae Park2,
Kyung-Ae Lee2, Tae-Kyu Park1 and
Hyun Kang1*
1Department of Biotechnology,
Research Institute for Biomedical & Health Science,
College of Biomedical and Health Science, Konkuk
University, Chungju, 380-701, 2R&D Center,
Macrocare Tech, Ltd, Ochang, 363-883, 3KuGen
Healthcare Institute, Chungju, 380-150, 4Nutra
MediPharm, Chungju, 380-701, Republic of Korea.
*For correspondence: Email:
hkang@kku.ac.kr; Tel: 82-43-840-3603;
Fax: 82-43-852-3616
Received: 28 November 2012
Revised accepted: 3 November 2013
Tropical Journal of
Pharmaceutical Research, January 2014;
13(1):
Olea europaea Linn. (Oleaceae) fruit
pulp (OFP-EA) extract in experimental rats.
Methods: Sprague–Dawley rats were
fed with a normal diet, a high-cholesterol diet or
high-cholesterol diets supplemented with OFP-EA extract
(100 or 300 mg/kg/day p.o.) for 28 days. Plasma lipid
profile such as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides
(TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) were measured using their respective
commercial kits. Gross appearance and lipid content of
liver samples were also analyzed. The changes in protein
expressions of key enzymes such as
hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR),
acyl-CoA:cholesterol
acyltransferase (ACAT),
cytochrome P450 7A1 (CYP7A1)
and peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α)
in rat livers were evaluated using Western blotting.
Results: OFP-EA-extract markedly
altered the increased plasma TC, TG, LDL and decreased
the HDL induced by a hypercholesterolemic diet with a
dose-dependent improvement on both atherogenic index and
cardiac risk factor (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001 at 100 and
300 mg/kg dose, respectively). Lipid deposition in liver
was attenuated significantly in hypercholesterolemic
animals supplemented with OFP-EA-extract (p < 0.01 at
100 and p < 0.001 at 300 mg/kg dose, respectively).
Further mechanistic studies revealed that OFP-EA extract
regulated the altered expressional levels of CYP7A1 and
PPAR-α in the livers of hypercholesterolemic
diet-induced rats.
Conclusion: The hypocholesterolemic and
hepatoprotective functions of OFP-EA-extract are
probably due to the increase in fatty acids unitization
in liver via the up-regulation of PPAR-α level.
Keywords:
Olea europaea, cholesterol, Hypercholesterolemia,
Lipid metabolism, Peroxisome proliferation-activated
receptor alpha.
