title: A comparative study between Wuweizi seed and its post-ethanol extraction residue in normal and hypercholesterolemic mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  At the present, a shift from drug therapy, especially herbal therapy, to dietary supplementation is a trend in the management of dyslipidemia and related diseases. Therefore, the optimal utilization of herbal resource is important for a sustainable development of herbal medicine. Here, we compared the effects of dietary supplementation with Chinese medicine Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus seed (FSC-S) and the post-ethanol extraction residue of FSC-S (FSC-SpEt) on normal diet-fed (normal) and experimental hypercholesterolemic (HCL) mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male ICR mice (n = 10 in each group), weighing 17-21 g, were fed with normal diet (ND) or high cholesterol/bile salt (1/0.3 %, w/w) diet (HCBD) with or without supplemented with FSC-S, FSC-SpEt), or lipid-lowering agent fenofibrate (FF). Ten days later, serum/hepatic lipid and glucose (GLU) levels, body weight, organ/epididymal fat masses, and food/water intake were measured. Lipid level measurements included those of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), HDL/LDL ratio, LDL/HDL ratio, and non-HDL (N-HDL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Supplementation with FSC-S and FSC-SpEt increased serum TC (by 64 and 25 %, respectively) and LDL (by 60 and 27 %, respectively) in normal mice. FSC-S supplementation elevated serum TC, TG, HDL, LDL, and LDL/HDL ratio (up to 64, 118, 77, 197, and 51 %, respectively) in HCL mice. FSC-SpEt supplementation reduced serum TG (by 15 %) and LDL/HDL ratio (by 18 %), as well as increased serum HDL (by 22 %) and HDL/LDL ratio (by 21 %) in HCBD-fed mice. FSC-S decreased hepatic TC (by 19 %) contents and increased hepatic TG contents by 14 % in normal mice. FSC-S reduced hepatic GLU level in both normal and HCL mice by 24 and 22 %, respectively. Hepatic TC and TG contents were lowered in FSC-SpEt-supplemented normal mice by 16 and 20 %, respectively. The body/fatty masse and food intake were lowered, but the feed efficiency index (FEI), weight gain per unit of food ingested, was increased in FSC-S-supplemented normal and HCL mice. FF supplements reduced serum/hepatic lipids, hepatic GLU contents, and epididymal fat mass, but it induced hepatomegaly and high serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity in normal and/or HCL mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ensemble of results indicated that while FSC-SpEt supplementation is beneficial for the treatment of hyperlipidemia/fatty liver, FSC-S is potentially useful for the management of overweight/obesity.
authors: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100102, China. chuzhusheng@vip.qq.com.
authors: Zhu-Sheng
authors: ZS
authors: Chu
authors: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. zlyu@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors: Zhi-Ling
authors: ZL
authors: Yu
authors: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100102, China. siyuan-pan@163.com.
authors: Si-Yuan
authors: SY
authors: Pan
authors: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100102, China. awmt_2004@163.com.
authors: Zhan-Hong
authors: ZH
authors: Jia
authors: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100102, China. wangxiaoyan1083@126.com.
authors: Xiao-Yan
authors: XY
authors: Wang
authors: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100102, China. wozhenaimeizhi@sina.com.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Zhang
authors: School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100102, China. pellyzhu@126.com.
authors: Pei-Li
authors: PL
authors: Zhu
authors: School of Traditional Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China. wxj0517@sina.com.
authors: Xiu-Juan
authors: XJ
authors: Wang
authors: Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong, China. bcrko@ust.hk.
authors: Kam-Ming
authors: KM
authors: Ko
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000378:metabolism; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000378:metabolism; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects; D004326:Drinking / Q000187:drug effects; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011345:Fenofibrate / Q000494:pharmacology; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D032141:Schisandra / Q000737:chemistry*; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; D014280:Triglycerides; D000431:Ethanol; D011345:Fenofibrate