Effects of hesperidin on the progression of hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver induced by high-cholesterol diet in rats

The protective effects of hesperidin against hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver were examined in male wistar rats fed a high-cholesterol diet for 12 weeks. compared with a standard diet,a high-cholesterol diet not only increased body weights,liver weights,and serum concentration of cholesterol,but also induced the fatty degeneration (steatosis) of liver. hesperidin (0.08%) reduced levels of hepatic steatosis,adipose tissue and liver weights (p < 0.05),serum total cholesterol and retinol binding protein (rbp) 4 concentrations (p < 0.05) in rats fed with high-cholesterol diet,while reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and triglyceride concentrations was not significant. it also attenuated the marked changes in mrna expression of lipid metabolism-related proteins: rbp,heart fatty acid-binding protein (h-fabp),and cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein (c-fabp),in liver and adipose tissue. according to the results of gas chromatography,serum concentrations of total cholesterol and biomarkers of cholesterol synthesis (lathosterol) and absorption (campesterol,β-sitosterol) were lower,and concentrations of cholesterol in feces were higher in the rats given hesperidin (p < 0.05). hesperidin may improve hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver by inhibiting both the synthesis and absorption of cholesterol and regulating the expression of mrna for rbp,c-fabp,and h-fabp. © the japanese pharmacological society.