Biochemical and Molecular Study of the Influence of Amaranthus hypochondriacus Flour on Serum and Liver Lipids in Rats Treated with Ethanol

Abstract

Hyperlipidemia and hepatic steatosis are frequent alterations due to alcohol abuse. Amaranth is a pseudocereal with hypolipidemic potential among other nutraceutical actions. Here we study the effect of Amaranthus hypochondriacus (Ah) seeds on serum and liver lipids, and the expression of genes associated to lipid metabolism and liver histology in male Wistar rats intoxicated with ethanol. The animals were divided into four groups; two groups were fed the American Institute of Nutrition 1993 for maintenance diet (AIN-93M), and the other two with AIN-93M containing Ah as protein source. One of each protein group received 20 % ethanol in the drinking water, thus obtaining: CC (control casein), EC (ethanol casein), CAh (control Ah) and EAh (ethanol Ah). When comparing EAh vs. EC, we found a positive effect of Ah on lipids, preventing the increment of serum cholesterol (p < 0.001), through the higher expression of the LDL receptor (p < 0.001); and it also decreased free (p < 0.05) and esterified cholesterol (p < 0.01) in liver, probably via the reduction of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase expression (p < 0.001). We also observed that amaranth contributed to the decrease of fat deposits in liver, probably through the decrease in acetyl-CoA carboxylase alpha (p < 0.01), glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 1 (p < 0.01) and diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (p < 0.05) expression. The histological study showed a decrease in the fat deposits in the amaranth group when compared to casein; this is consistent with the biochemical and molecular parameters studied in this work. In conclusion, amaranth could be recommended to avoid the alterations in the lipid metabolism induced by alcohol and other harmful agents.