In Vivo Antioxidant and Hypolipidemic Effects of Fermented Mung Bean on Hypercholesterolemic Mice

Abstract

Legumes have previously been reported with hypolipidemic effect caused by the presence of flavonoid. This study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects of fermented mung bean on hypercholesterolemic mice. Blood from all mice was collected and subjected to serum lipid and liver profiles biochemical analysis and quantitative RT-PCR for atherosclerosis related gene expressions. Besides, livers were collected for antioxidant assays and histopathology evaluation. Fermented mung bean was found to reduce the level of serum lipid and liver enzyme profiles of hypercholesterolemic mice. Furthermore, liver antioxidant and nitric oxide levels were also significantly restored by fermented mung bean in a dosage dependent manner. The gene expression study indicated that Apoe and Bcl2a1a were upregulated while Npy and Vwf expressions were downregulated after the treatment. The effects of fermented mung bean were greater than nonfermented mung bean. These results indicated that fermented mung bean possessed antioxidants that lead to its hypolipidemic effect on hypercholesterolemic mice.

Figure 1

Liver histopathology of group 1 (normal control), 2 (untreated hypercholesterolemic), 3 (hypocol 60 mg/kg body weight), 4 (fermented mung bean 200 mg/kg body weight), and 5 (fermented mung bean 1000 mg/kg body weight) (100x). CV: centrilobular vein.

Figure 2

Fold changes of hypocol (60 mg/kg body weight) (n = 4) or fermented mung bean (1000 mg/kg body weight) (n = 4) positively regulated genes in blood compared to untreated hypercholesterolemic mice (n = 4) quantified by real time PCR. The data represent mean and S.D. of 3 independent experiments. Only fold expression changes greater than ±2 were recorded as significant. ^*Significant difference (P < 0.05) among treated or normal group comparing with untreated hypercholesterolemic group was determined using ANOVA followed by Duncan's multiple range test.