Research On The Hypolipidemic Effects And Mechanism Of Chinese Prickly Ash Essence

Zanthoxylum is a kind of spices endemic to China, it is also a traditional Chinese medicine which has been cultivated and ate in China for a long history. With the popularity of Sichuan cuisine, Zanthoxylum is widely used because of its spicy and hemp characteristics. Nowadays it has become one of the essential cooking seasoning. Evaluation of pepper’s function is important for both social and economic value. Zanthoxylum essence,mainly made of volatile oil and alkylamide, is also called pepper oleoresin. It is extracted from Zanthoxylum by organic solvent.Currently, foreign researches on Zanthoxylum are primarily about the isolation and identification of volatile components. Studies in China show that Zanthoxylum can help to relieve pain, bacteriostat, loss weight, lower lipid, anti-cancer and so on. Reports also show that volatile oil can drop lipids and anti-atherosclerosis, but the mechanism of its action is not sure. Therefore, we study the Hypolipidemic Effects and Mechanism of Chinese Prickly Ash Essence on ovariectomized and hyperlipidaemic rats, which provide basic theoretical for food processing and food health. The main conclusions of the research are as follows:(1) Animal model was established by simulating the menopausal women.40female SD rats were allocated to five groups randomly after ovariectomizing(OVX) and sham ovariectomizing:sham group(n=8), control group(n=8), low-dose group (n=8), middle-dose group(n=8), high-dose group(n=8), fed the same basic diet for28days and gavaged0,0,5.0,10.0,15.0mg/kg Chinese Prickly Ash Essence daily. Testing indicators:the body weight, feed intake, serum lipids, liver fat, hepatic total cholesterol, hepatic triglyceride of control group compared with sham group were significantly higher. Body-weight gaining, feed intake, plasma cholesterol and fat, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol of liver were decreased by Chinese Prickly Ash Essence, and the effects are in feed efficiency.(2) Animal model was established by feeding high-fat-high-cholesterol diet.40 female SD rats were allocated to five groups randomly, with one goupe fed basic diet (BD)and othes fed high-fat-high-cholesterol diet(HFHCD) and gavaged0,0,15mg/kg Chinese Prickly Ash Essence,8mg/kg Chinese Prickly Ash volatile oil,4mg/kg Chinese Prickly Ash alkylamide. Compared to BD group rats, the serum lipids and hepatic lipid of HFHCD group rats were significantly higher, so as the liver weight. Chinese Prickly Ash Essence and Chinese Prickly Ash alkylamide can both decrease Body-weight gaining, feed intake, plasma cholesterol and fat, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol of liver. Chinese Prickly Ash volatile oil can decrease triacylglycerol of serum and liver, but the total cholesterol in serum and liver were increased.(3) Metabolic pathway of cholesterol around the body through the intestinal impetus experiments, intestinal tissue morphology, determination of fecal bile acid and cholesterol metabolism-related genes CYP7A1(cholesterol7a-hydroxylase), HMG-CoA R (3-hydroxy-3-methyl coenzyme a reductase), FXR (class farnesoid nuclear receptor), ASBT (apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter), IBABP (ileal bile acid binding protein) determined from the molecular point of view to explore the three systems by regulatory mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism.Chinese Prickly Ash Essence can promote intestinal motility, increased ileal FXR gene expression levels, inhibit gene expression ASBT and IBABP increase the discharge of bile acids and neutral sterols reduce enterohepatic circulation of bile acid reflux ways; through reduced hepatic expression of FXR and improve CYP7A1expression in the liver and accelerate the decomposition of cholesterol; reduced expression of HMG-CoA, blocking the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver.Chinese Prickly Ash volatile oil increased stool volume, promote intestinal emptying, increasing bile acid reflux, reduced absorption of fat emulsion and to reduce the fat and liver triglyceride content; stimulate the growth of intestinal villi, increased reabsorption of bile acids in the intestine, promote cholesterol decomposition weak, and the expression of HMG-CoA is not inhibited rat liver makes cholesterol synthesis and content increased.Chinese Prickly Ash alkylamide injuried the small intestinal mucosa, and reduce the increased expression of FXR ileum and IBABP ASBT, reducing reabsorption of bile acids, increased fecal excretion, and reduce the absorption of triglycerides, reduced liver triglyceride content; down FXR gene expression level in liver, increase the expression of CYP7A1in the liver, cholesterol accelerating decomposition; reduced hepatic expression of HMG-CoA to reduce cholesterol synthesis in the liver.