Lowering lipid mechanism of the ethanol extracts from maggot of musca domestica in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of oral administration of ethanol extracts from maggots (EM) on lowering blood lipids in rats that are placed on a high-cholesterol diet. Sprague Dawley male rats were randomly divided into the following 4 groups based on the amount of EM administration in mg 100 g of per body weight over the period of 6 weeks: Normal control without EM (NC), EM 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0. EM groups had significantly lower levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, compared to the NC. HMG-CoA reductase activity in EM groups was significantly lower than those of the control group but total sterol, neutral sterol and acid sterol excretion were significantly increased in EM groups, when compared to the control group. To identify the biological mechanism of EM towards the hypocholesterolemic effect, Sterol Response Element Binding Proteins (SREBPs) and the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (PPARα) transcription system were determined in rats on a high-cholesterol diet. It was discovered that EM suppresses the expression of SREBP-1α and SREBP-2 mRNA in the liver tissues of these rats while simultaneously increasing the expression of PPARα mRNA. Therefore, result of this study provide the first evidence that EM may have hypocholesterolemic effects in rats on high-cholesterol diet, by regulating cholesterol metabolism-related biochemical parameters and SREBP-1α, SREPB-2 and PPARα gene expressions.