Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of a diet supplemented with sesamin on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.
OBJECTIVE
The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of sesamin (a non-fat constituent of sesame oil) have been attributed to an increased accumulation of dihomo-y-linolenic acid, a precursor of 1-series prostaglandins, and the decreasing production of proinflammatory 2-series prostaglandins and 4-series leukotrienes by inhibiting the delta-5 desaturase activity. We investigated the effects of a diet containing sesamin on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.


METHODS
After feeding rats either a basal diet (control group) or a diet supplemented with sesamin (sesamin group) for 14 days, the rats underwent 60 minutes of partial hepatic ischemia and 3 hours of reperfusion. The phospholipid fatty acid composition of both liver and lung tissue specimens were then analyzed. The plasma levels of leukotriene B4 and PCOOH (phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide) were also determined.


RESULTS
The consumption of the dietary sesamin resulted in a significant increase in the dihomo-y-linolenic acid content in the tissue phospholipids of the liver and lung specimens. The amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the lungs subjected to the ischemia-reperfusion injury were well preserved in the animals from the sesamin group. Despite a lack of differences in the levels of arachidonic acid, the plasma levels of leukotriene B4 in the rats fed dietary sesamin (88 +/- 15 pg) tended to be lower (P = 0.07) than those fed the control diet (110 +/- 20 pg). Furthermore, the plasma concentrations of PCOOH in the sesamin group (130 +/- 62 pmol) were also significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those in the control group (223 +/- 33 pmol).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that a diet containing sesamin may thus reduce hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by inducing both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.
Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyushu University, Beppu, Japan. tohru@tsurumi.beppu.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Tohru
T
Utsunomiya
Mitsuo
M
Shimada
Tatsuya
T
Rikimaru
Hirofumi
H
Hasegawa
Yoichi
Y
Yamashita
Takayuki
T
Hamatsu
Masao
M
Yamasaki
Shihoko
S
Kaku
Koji
K
Yamada
Keizo
K
Sugimachi
D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004149:Dioxoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000097:blood; D017705:Lignans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000097:blood; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D000975:Antioxidants; D004149:Dioxoles; D017705:Lignans; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; C057590:phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide; D007975:Leukotriene B4; C054125:sesamin