Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search

Effects of a medium chain triglyceride oil mixture and alpha-lipoic acid diet on body composition, antioxidant status, and plasma lipid levels in the Golden Syrian hamster

From National Research Council Canada

Download
  1. (PDF, 634 KiB)
DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2003.12.001
AuthorSearch for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for:
FormatText, Article
Subjectbody composition; antioxidants; cholesterol; body weight; triglycerides; linseed oil
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the antioxidant α-lipoic acid (ALP) versus a medium chain triglyceride oil mixture (MCTo), which was designed to increase energy expenditure and to improve lipid profiles containing medium chain triglycerides, phytosterols, and omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil. A total of 48 hamsters were fed a) hypercholesterolemic (HC) control, b) HC MCTo, c) HC ALP, or d) HC MCTo/ALP diet for 4 weeks. No differences were observed on food intake, body weight, total body water, lean and fat mass, and tissue thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). ALP alone had no effect on total cholesterol (TC); however, MCTo feeding increased TC with (P < 0.03) and without (P < 0.003) ALP when compared with control. ALP increased HDL levels compared with control (P < 0.04) and MCTo/ALP (P < 0.007) groups. MCTo, with (P < 0.0001) or without (P < 0.006) ALP, increased non-HDL cholesterol levels versus control. The non-HDL:HDL cholesterol ratio was decreased by ALP compared with MCTo (45%) and MCTo/ALP (68%) (P < 0.0001), a similar trend was seen when compared with the HC control (22%) group (P < 0.14). Triglyceride levels were not altered by any dietary treatment. Liver and heart tissue reduced glutathione (GSH) was increased (P < 0.05) by all three treatments when compared with control. Both tissues showed an increase (P < 0.05) in oxidized glutathione (GSSG) when fed ALP as compared with other treatments. Hamsters fed ALP had a lower (P < 0.05) GSH/GSSG ratio compared with other treatment groups. In conclusion, MCTo feeding does not elicit beneficial effects on circulating plasma lipids and measures of body composition. In addition, our results do not clearly support an improvement in oxidative status through supplementation of ALP. However, our results do support the existence of beneficial effects of ALP on circulating lipoprotein content in the hamster.
Publication date
Access condition
  • available
  • unlimited
  • public
In
  • The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 15, no. July 7 (July 2004): 402–410.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NRC publication
This is a non-NRC publication

"Non-NRC publications" are publications authored by NRC employees prior to their employment by NRC.

NRC numberNRCC 54694
NPARC number9145567
Export citationExport as RIS
Report a correctionReport a correction (opens in a new tab)
Record identifieracc131e6-2ff9-4788-8c6f-d0d0a34b2f5c
Record created2009-10-02
Record modified2020-04-17
Date modified: