Dietary phosphatidylcholine alleviates fatty liver induced by orotic acid.
OBJECTIVE
We compared the effect of dietary phosphatidylcholine (PC) with that of triacylglycerol (TG), both with the same fatty acid profiles, on fatty infiltration in orotic acid (OA)-induced fatty liver of Sprague-Dawley rats.


METHODS
Rats were fed an OA-supplemented diets containing TG (TG+OA group) or PC (20% of dietary lipid, PC+OA group) for 10 d. Rats fed the TG diet without OA supplementation served as the basal group.


RESULTS
Administering OA significantly increased the weights and TG accumulation in livers of the TG+OA group compared with the basal group. These changes were attributed to significant increases in the activities of fatty acid synthase, malic enzyme, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, which are fatty acid synthetic enzymes, and phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, a rate-limiting enzyme of TG synthesis. However, the PC+OA group did not show TG accumulation and OA-induced increases of these enzyme activities. Further, a significant increase in the activity of carnitine palmitoyl transferase, a rate-limiting enzyme of fatty acid beta-oxidation, was found in the PC+OA group.


CONCLUSIONS
Dietary PC appears to alleviate the OA-induced hepatic steatosis and hepatomegaly, mainly through the attenuation of hepatic TG synthesis and enhancement of fatty acid beta-oxidation in Sprague-Dawley rats.
Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Saga University, Saga, Japan.
Yohanes
Y
Buang
Yu-Ming
YM
Wang
Jae-Young
JY
Cha
Koji
K
Nagao
Teruyoshi
T
Yanagita
D000818:Animals; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D009963:Orotic Acid / Q000633:toxicity; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism
D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D010743:Phospholipids; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014280:Triglycerides; D009963:Orotic Acid; D002784:Cholesterol; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases