Jale Balkan

Improving Effect of Dietary Taurine Supplementation on the Oxidative Stress and Lipid Levels in the Plasma, Liver and Aorta of Rabbits Fed on a High-Cholesterol Diet

The effect of a high-cholesterol diet with or without taurine on lipids and oxidative stress in the plasma, liver and aorta of rabbits was investigated. The animals were maintained on a basal diet (control), a high-cholesterol diet (HC, 1% w/w), or a high- cholesterol diet supplemented with taurine (HCHT, 2.5% w/w) for two months. Taurine has an ameliorating effect on atherosclerosis together with a decreasing effect on the cholesterol and triglyceride levels in rabbits fed on an HC diet. The HCHT diet caused a significant decrease in the malondialdehyde (MDA) and diene conjugate (DC) levels in the plasma, liver and aorta of rabbits as compared to the HC group. This treatment did not alter the antioxidant system in the liver of rabbits in the HC group. Our findings indicate that taurine ameliorated oxidative stress and cholesterol accumulation in the aorta of rabbits fed on the HC diet and that this effect may be related to its antioxidative potential as well as its reducing effect on serum lipids.

Betaine or taurine administration prevents fibrosis and lipid peroxidation induced by rat liver by ethanol plus carbon tetrachloride intoxication

Summary.The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of betaine or taurine on liver fibrogenesis and lipid peroxidation in rats. Fibrosis was induced by treatment of rats with drinking water containing 5% ethanol and CCl4 (2 × weekly, 0.2 ml/kg, i.p.) for 4 weeks. Ethanol plus CCl4 treatment caused increased lipid peroxidation and disturbed antioxidant system in the liver. Histopathological findings suggested that the development of liver fibrosis was prevented in rats treated with betaine or taurine (1% v/v in drinking water) together with ethanol plus CCl4 for 4 weeks. When hepatic taurine content was depleted with β-alanine (3% v/v in drinking water), portal-central fibrosis induced by ethanol + CCl4 treatment was observed to proceed cirrhotic structure. Betaine or taurine was also found to decrease serum transaminase activities and hepatic lipid peroxidation without any change in hepatic antioxidant system in rats with hepatic fibrosis. In conclusion, the administration of betaine or taurine prevented the development of liver fibrosis probably associated with decreased oxidative stress.

The effect of betaine treatment on triglyceride levels and oxidative stress in the liver of ethanol-treated guinea pigs.

We investigated the effect of betaine supplementation on ethanol induced steatosis and alterations in prooxidant and antioxidant status in the liver of guinea pigs. Animals were fed with normal chow or betaine containing chow (2% w/w) for 30 days. Ethanol (3 g/kg, i.p.) was given for the last 10 days. We found that ethanol treatment caused significant increases in plasma transaminase activities, hepatic triglyceride and lipid peroxide levels. Significant decreases in glutathione (GSH), alpha-tocopherol and total ascorbic acid (AA) levels were also observed, but hepatic superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transferase activities remained unchanged as compared with those in controls. Betaine treatment together with ethanol in guinea pigs is found to decrease hepatic triglyceride, lipid peroxide levels and serum transaminase activities and to increase GSH levels. No changes in alpha-tocopherol and total AA levels and antioxidant enzyme activities were observed with betaine treatment in alcohol treated guinea pigs. In addition, histopathological assessment of guinea pigs showed that betaine reduced the alcoholic fat accumulation in the liver. Based on these data, betaine treatment has a restoring effect on the alterations in triglyceride, lipid peroxide and GSH levels following ethanol ingestion.

Increased lipid peroxidation in serum and low-density lipoproteins associated with aging in humans.

This study was carried out in 140 healthy subjects who were divided into three subgroups of age: young (21-40 years), mature (41-60 years), and elderly (61-85 years) to investigate lipid peroxides and the antioxidant system in serum and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Serum levels of cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol increased with age. The elderly group was found to have higher polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), diene conjugates, and lower cholesterol-adjusted vitamin E levels and antioxidant activity (AOA) as compared to the young group. No age-related difference was detected in serum vitamin C levels. Age correlated positively with serum cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, PUFA, TBARS, diene conjugates, and negatively with cholesterol-adjusted vitamin E levels and AOA. In addition, endogenous LDL diene conjugate levels and the susceptibility of LDL to copper-induced lipid peroxidation increased in elderly subjects as compared with young subjects. In addition, positive correlations were detected between age and LDL endogenous diene conjugate levels and TBARS formation after copper incubation. However, the susceptibility of whole serum to copper-induced lipid peroxidation did not change in young and elderly subjects. Our results show that endogenous lipid peroxide levels in serum and LDL, and the susceptibility of LDL to copper-induced oxidation, increased with aging in humans.

Melatonin reduces cholesterol accumulation and prooxidant state induced by high cholesterol diet in the plasma, the liver and probably in the aorta of C57BL/6J mice

Abstract:  We examined the hypolipidemic and antioxidative effects of melatonin in plasma, liver and aorta of C57BL/6J mice fed on a high cholesterol (HC) diet. Mice were fed normal mice chow containing 1.5% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic acid for 4 months with or without melatonin (10 mg/L in drinking water) treatment. HC diet was observed to increase cholesterol, triglyceride and diene conjugate (DC) levels in plasma and liver. There was a tendency towards an increase in cholesterol level in the aorta following HC diet. In addition, aortic DC levels were higher than those of control group. No fatty streaks or plaques developed in the aorta of mice following HC diet, but in some sections, derangement of the endothelial layer was detected. Melatonin treatment was found to reduce plasma, liver cholesterol and DC levels as well as liver triglyceride levels in hypercholesterolemic mice. Aortic cholesterol and DC levels were also reduced in hypercholesterolemic mice when given melatonin, although not statistically significant. There were no differences in aortic histopathological findings of mice fed on a HC diet with and without melatonin treatment. In conclusion, our results indicate that melatonin reduces HC diet‐induced cholesterol accumulation and prooxidant state in the plasma, liver and probably in the aorta.

Effects of added dietary taurine on erythrocyte lipids and oxidative stress in rabbits fed a high cholesterol diet.

Lipid peroxidation leads to damage of polyunsaturated fatty acids of membrane phospholipids. The contribution of oxidative stress to hypercholesterolemia-induced hemolytic anemia and the effects of addition of taurine on erythrocyte lipid composition, oxidative stres, and hematological data were studied in rabbits fed on a high cholesterol (HC) diet (1%, w/w) for 2 months. The effects of taurine on erythrocyte hemolysis and H2O2-induced lipid peroxidation were investigated in normal rabbit erythrocytes in vitro. The HC diet resulted in increases in plasma lipids and lipid peroxide levels as well as increases in cholesterol levels and the cholesterol:phospholipid ratio in the erythrocytes. This diet caused a hemolytic anemia, but lipid peroxide levels remained unchanged in the erythrocytes of the rabbits. Taurine (2.5%, w/w) added to the food has an ameliorating effect on plasma lipids and lipid peroxide levels in rabbits fed on a HC diet. This treatment also caused decreases in elevated erythrocyte cholesterol levels and cholesterol:phospholipid ratio due to the HC diet, but it did not prevent the hemolytic anemia and did not change erythrocyte lipid peroxide levels. In addition, in an in vitro study, taurine did not protect erythrocytes against H2O2-induced hemolysis or lipid peroxidation. These results show that the HC diet causes hemolytic anemia without any changes in erythrocyte lipid peroxidation, and taurine treatment was not effective against hemolytic anemia caused by the HC diet.

Serum pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance and low-density lipoprotein oxidation in healthy subjects with different cholesterol levels

Abstract.In this study, we investigated serum pro-oxidantantioxidant balance in 210 healthy subjects divided into groups with low and high atherogenic risk according to the levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein- cholesterol (HDL-C). Diene conjugate (DC), malondialdehyde (MDA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), vitamin E, and vitamin C levels and antioxidant activity (AOA) were determined in the serum. Endogenous DC and copperinduced MDA levels were also measured in the LDL fraction isolated by precipitation with buffered heparin from plasma in 80 healthy subjects with different serum LDL-C levels. Subjects with a high atherogenic risk had significantly higher plasma DC, MDA, and PUFA levels, but lower vitamin E/TC values and AOA than subjects with low atherogenic risk. Endogenous DC and copper-induced MDA levels in the LDL fraction were increased in subjects with serum LDL-C levels higher than 4.14 mM compared with those with normal LDL-C levels. In conclusion, this study clearly indicates that a disturbance in serum pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance and an increase in LDL oxidation are concomitant with higher TC and LDL-C and lower HDL-C levels in the serum.

Hazelnut oil administration reduces aortic cholesterol accumulation and lipid peroxides in the plasma, liver, and aorta of rabbits fed a high-cholesterol diet.

Hazelnut oil (HO) is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. We wanted to investigate the effect of HO on lipid levels and prooxidant–antioxidant status in rabbits fed a high-cholesterol (HC) diet. An HC diet caused significant increases in lipids and lipid peroxide levels in the plasma, liver, and aorta together with histopathological atherosclerotic changes in the aorta. Glutathione levels, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione transferase activities decreased significantly, but superoxide dismutase activity and vitamin E and C levels remained unchanged in the livers of rabbits following HC diet. HO supplementation reduced plasma, liver, and aorta lipid peroxide levels and aorta cholesterol levels together with amelioration in atherosclerotic lesions in the aortas of rabbits fed an HC diet, without any decreasing effect on cholesterol levels in the plasma or liver. HO did not alter the antioxidant system in the liver in the HC group. Our findings indicate that HO reduced oxidative stress and cholesterol accumulation in the aortas of rabbits fed an HC diet.

Decreases in taurine levels induced by β-alanine treatment did not affect the susceptibility of tissues to lipid peroxidation

Summary.We aimed to investigate the effect of decreased taurine levels on endogenous and induced lipid peroxide levels in liver, brain, heart and erythrocytes as well as prooxidant and antioxidant balance in the liver of rats administered β-alanine (3%, w/v) in drinking water for 1 month to decrease taurine levels of tissues. This treatment caused significant decreases in taurine levels of liver (86%), brain (36%) and heart (15%). We found that endogenous and ascorbic acid-, NADPH- and cumene hydroperoxide-induced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels did not change in the liver, brain and heart homogenates following β-alanine treatment. Also, H2O2-induced MDA levels remained unchanged in erythrocytes. In addition, we did not observe any changes in levels of MDA, diene conjugates, glutathione, α-tocopherol, ascorbic acid and the activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione transferase in the liver. According to this, buffering or sequestering capacity of tissues to exogenous stimuli was not influenced by reduced taurine levels in tissues of rats.

Melatonin improved the disturbances in hepatic prooxidant and antioxidant balance and hepatotoxicity induced by a high cholesterol diet in C57BL/6J Mice

We examined the effect of melatonin in prooxidant and antioxidant state in the liver of C57BL/6J mice fed on a high cholesterol (HC) diet. Mice were fed with normal mice chow containing 1.5% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic acid for 4 months without and with melatonin (10 mg/L in drinking water) treatment. HC diet was observed to increase malondialdehyde (MDA) and diene conjugate (DC) levels in the liver. This diet lowered glutathione (GSH), alpha-tocopherol, and total ascorbic acid levels as well as glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and glutathione transferase (GST) activities in the liver, but hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity remained unchanged. Although melatonin treatment did not affect these parameters in mice fed a normal diet, it reduced hepatic MDA and DC levels in mice fed an HC diet. Hepatic alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid levels increased, but hepatic GSH levels remained unchanged in the melatonin-treated HC group as compared to the HC group. Melatonin treatment was found to increase liver GSH-Px and GST activities in mice fed an HC diet. However, SOD activity did not alter in the liver of hypercholesterolemic mice following melatonin treatment. In addition, the histopathological lesions observed in the cholesterol-plus-melatonin group were less severe than those seen in the cholesterol group. According to these observations, we can say that melatonin treatment has an ameliorating effect on the disturbances in prooxidant and antioxidant balance and histopathological lesions in the liver of mice following cholesterol feeding.