Study On The Biological Function Of Staxanthin In Preventing And Treating Hyperlipidemia In Mice

Hyperlipidemia caused by dysfunction of lipid metabolic is an important causal factor for atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in China and western countries. Although statins can obviously reduce serum total cholesterol, it also has limitations. It has been proven that astaxanthin owns powerful antioxidant properties, however the effect of astaxanthin on hyperlipidemia in mice has not been studied yet. Thus, the present study was designed to explore the preventing and curing effect of astaxanthin on hypolipidemia.The hyperlipidemia model was established by feeding ICR mice high fat diet. Serum lipid profiles were determined after ten weeks. The result indicated that high fat diet could obviously enhance the levels of serum TC and LDL-C which conformed to characteristics of hyperlipidemia.We used this hyperlipidemia model to investigate the effect of astaxanthin on preventing hypolipidemia. After a six-week treatment, astaxanthin reduced the levels of serum TC and HDL-C. Middle dosage of astaxanthin can reduce serum TC and HDL-C by 9.6% and 12.1%, while high dosage can reduce serum TC and HDL-C by 15.5% and 15.3%, respectively.In addition, this hyperlipidemia model was also used to examine the effect of astaxanthin on curing hypolipidemia. After a three-week treatment, high dosage of astaxanthin markedly reduced the level of serum TC, the effect of which was as similar as a combination of middle dosage of astaxanthin together with red yeast rice.In conclusion, we discovered that astaxanthin has the function of prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia.