Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis prevents high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis and oxidative stress in mice by gut-liver axis modulating properties

Scope: Evidence is mounting that astaxanthin (ATX), a xanthophyll carotenoid, used as a nutritional supplement to prevent chronic metabolic diseases. The present study aims to identify the potential function of ATX supplementation in preventing steatohepatitis and hepatic oxidative stress in diet-induced obese mice.
Methods and Results: In this study, ATX as dose of 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75% have orally administered to mice along with a high-fat diet (HFD) to investigate the role of ATX in regulating liver lipid metabolism and gut microbiota. The study showed that ATX dose-dependently reduces body weight, lipid droplet formation, hepatic triglycerides and ameliorated hepatic steatosis and oxidative stress. 0.75% ATX altered the levels of 34 lipid metabolites related to hepatic cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism which might be associated with downregulation of lipogenesis-related genes and upregulation of bile acid biosynthesis-related genes. The result also revealed that ATX alleviates H...

研究背景：越来越多的证据表明，虾青素（astaxanthin, ATX）作为一种叶黄素类胡萝卜素，常被用作营养补充剂以预防慢性代谢性疾病。本研究旨在明确虾青素补充剂在预防饮食诱导肥胖小鼠脂肪性肝炎及肝脏氧化应激中的潜在作用。
研究方法与结果：本研究中，研究者以0.25%、0.5%及0.75%剂量的虾青素联合高脂饮食（high-fat diet, HFD）对小鼠进行灌胃给药，以探究虾青素在调控肝脏脂质代谢与肠道菌群中的作用。研究结果显示，虾青素可呈剂量依赖性降低小鼠体重、脂滴形成量及肝脏甘油三酯水平，并改善肝脏脂肪变性与氧化应激。0.75%剂量的虾青素可改变34种与肝脏胆固醇及脂肪酸代谢相关的脂质代谢物水平，该变化可能与脂肪生成相关基因的下调及胆汁酸生物合成相关基因的上调有关。研究结果还显示，虾青素可缓解高脂饮食诱导的...