Purpose: To investigate the anti-hyperlipidaemic effect of extract of
Zanthoxylum bungeanum
Maxim.
seed oil (EZSO) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemic hamsters.
Methods: Following feeding with HFD for 30 days, hyperlipidemic hamsters were intragastrically treated
with EZSO for 60 days. Serum levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipoproteincholesterol
(LDL-C), nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed. Protein expression
and location of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) in liver were determined by
Western blot and immunohistochemical assays, respectively.
Results: EZSO at 5 and 10 g/kg significantly reduced levels of TG by 26 and 23 % (p < 0.05), TC by 19
% (p < 0.01) and 13 % (p < 0.01), LDL-C by 18 % (p < 0.05) and 21 % (p < 0.01), NO by 15 % (p <
0.01) and 31 % (p < 0.01), and MDA by 16 % (p < 0.05) and 30 % (p < 0.01), respectively, in serum of
hyperlipidemic hamsters. However, EZSO did not show significant effect on HDL-C level in serum.
Furthermore, EZSO at 5 and 10 g/kg markedly promoted protein expression of PPARγ by 71 % (p <
0.05) and 102 % (p < 0.01) in liver tissue of hyperlipidemic hamsters. EZSO also notably increased the
content of PPARγ protein in the nucleus of liver cells of hyperlipidemic hamsters.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that EZSO can reduce hyperlipidemia and improve oxidative
stress in hyperlipidemic hamsters through activation of PPARγ, and that EZSO is a promising novel
hypolipidemic health product.
