Departamento de Fisiología de la Nutrición, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico.
J Nutr. 2012 Nov;142(11):1956-63. doi: 10.3945/jn.112.165563. Epub 2012 Sep 26.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with multiple factors such as obesity, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress. Nopal, a cactus plant widely consumed in the Mexican diet, is considered a functional food because of its antioxidant activity and ability to improve biomarkers of metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of nopal consumption on the development of hepatic steatosis and hepatic oxidative stress and on the regulation of genes involved in hepatic lipid metabolism. Obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats were fed a control diet or a diet containing 4% nopal for 7 wk. Rats fed the nopal-containing diet had ∼50% lower hepatic TG than the control group as well as a reduction in hepatomegaly and biomarkers of hepatocyte injury such as alanine and aspartate aminotransferases. Attenuation of hepatic steatosis by nopal consumption was accompanied by a higher serum concentration of adiponectin and a greater abundance of mRNA for genes involved in lipid oxidation and lipid export and production of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 and microsomal TG transfer proteins in liver. Hepatic reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation biomarkers were significantly lower in rats fed nopal compared with the control rats. Furthermore, rats fed the nopal diet had a lower postprandial serum insulin concentration and a greater liver phosphorylated protein kinase B (pAKT):AKT ratio in the postprandial state. This study suggests that nopal consumption attenuates hepatic steatosis by increasing fatty acid oxidation and VLDL synthesis, decreasing oxidative stress, and improving liver insulin signaling in obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）与肥胖、胰岛素抵抗和氧化应激等多种因素有关。诺帕，一种在墨西哥饮食中广泛食用的仙人掌植物，因其抗氧化活性和改善代谢综合征生物标志物的能力而被认为是一种功能性食品。本研究旨在评估诺帕消费对肝脂肪变性和肝氧化应激发展的影响，以及对参与肝脂质代谢的基因的调节。肥胖 Zucker（fa/fa）大鼠喂食对照饮食或含 4%诺帕的饮食 7 周。喂食含诺帕饮食的大鼠肝甘油三酯（TG）比对照组低约 50%，肝肿大和肝细胞损伤标志物如丙氨酸和天冬氨酸转氨酶也减少。诺帕消费对肝脂肪变性的抑制作用伴随着血清脂联素浓度的升高，以及与脂质氧化和脂质输出以及肉毒碱棕榈酰基转移酶-1 和微粒体 TG 转移蛋白的产生有关的基因的 mRNA 丰度增加。与对照组相比，喂食诺帕的大鼠肝内活性氧和脂质过氧化生物标志物显著降低。此外，喂食诺帕饮食的大鼠在餐后血清胰岛素浓度较低，餐后肝脏磷酸化蛋白激酶 B（pAKT：AKT）比值较高。本研究表明，诺帕消费通过增加脂肪酸氧化和 VLDL 合成、减少氧化应激和改善肥胖 Zucker（fa/fa）大鼠肝脏胰岛素信号来减轻肝脂肪变性。
