Effects of Seomaeyakssuk (Artemisia argyi H.) Vinegar on Lipid Metabolism in Rats Fed a High-Fat and High-Cholesterol Diet

摘要

The effects of orally administered Seomaeyakssuk (Artemisia argyi H.) vinegar on lipid metabolism in Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet were analyzed. The experimental animals were divided into five groups: a normal diet group (normal, N), HFC diet group (control, C), HFC diet with lovastatin at 20 mg/kg body weight (B.W.) group (positive control, PC), HFC diet with malt vinegar group (TM), and HFC diet with Seomaeyaksuk vinegar group (TS) (2 mL/kg B.W.). After 4 weeksof feeding rats the experimental diet, contents of serum total lipids and total cholesterol levels of TM and TS groups were significantly lower than those of the PC group. Triglyceride contents of the TM and TS groups were not significantly different from those of the PC group but significantly lower than those of the C group. Content of serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol was significantly lower than that of the N group but higher than that of the C group. Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol content of serum was 190.68 mg/dL in the TS group, which was the lowest except for the N group. Aspartate transaminase and albumin transaminase activities as a measurement of liver damage index were not significantly different between the TM, TS, and C groups. Serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substance content of the TS group was reduced to a similar level as the N group but was lower than that of the C group in the liver and significantly higher than that of the N group. Antioxidant activity of the TSgroup was 55.69% in serum, which was a similar to that of the N group, and was 52.39% in the liver, which was not significantly different than that of the C group. From these results, we conclude that Seomaeyakssuk vinegar improves serum lipid content asa result of the complex action of vinegar, an active ingredient of Seomaeyakssuk and a product of the fermentation process.