Graduate Institute of Toxicology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10051, Taiwan.
Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
Mar Drugs. 2020 Aug 2;18(8):408. doi: 10.3390/md18080408.
Chitosan oligosaccharide is known to ameliorate hypercholesterolemia and diabetes. However, some studies found that chitosan oligosaccharide might induce mild to moderate hepatic damage in high-fat (HF) diet-induced obese rats or diabetic rats. Chitosan oligosaccharide can be as a dietary supplement, functional food, or drug. Its possible toxic effects to normal subjects need to be clarified. This study is designed to investigate the effects of chitosan oligosaccharide on plasma and hepatic lipid metabolism and liver histomorphology in normal Sprague-Dawley rats. Diets supplemented with 5% chitosan oligosaccharide have been found to induce liver damage in HF diet-fed rats. We therefore selected 5% chitosan oligosaccharide as an experimental object. Rats were divided into: a normal control diet group and a normal control diet +5% chitosan oligosaccharide group. The experimental period was 12 weeks. The results showed that supplementation of 5% chitosan oligosaccharide did not significantly change the body weight, food intake, liver/adipose tissue weights, plasma lipids, hepatic lipids, plasma levels of AST, ALT, and TNF-α/IL-6, hepatic lipid peroxidation and anti-oxidative enzyme activities, fecal lipids, and liver histomorphology in normal rats. These findings suggest that supplementation of 5% chitosan oligosaccharide for 12 weeks may not induce lipid metabolism disorder and liver toxicity in normal rats.
壳寡糖被认为可以改善高血脂和糖尿病。然而，一些研究发现壳寡糖可能会在高脂肪（HF）饮食诱导的肥胖大鼠或糖尿病大鼠中引起轻微到中度的肝损伤。壳寡糖可以作为膳食补充剂、功能性食品或药物。其对正常受试者可能产生的毒性作用需要澄清。本研究旨在探讨壳寡糖对正常 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠血浆和肝脂质代谢及肝组织形态学的影响。已发现补充 5%壳寡糖会在 HF 饮食喂养的大鼠中引起肝损伤。因此，我们选择 5%壳寡糖作为实验对象。大鼠分为：正常对照组和正常对照饮食+5%壳寡糖组。实验期为 12 周。结果表明，补充 5%壳寡糖对正常大鼠的体重、食物摄入量、肝/脂肪组织重量、血浆脂质、肝脂质、血浆 AST、ALT 和 TNF-α/IL-6 水平、肝脂质过氧化和抗氧化酶活性、粪便脂质以及肝组织形态学无显著影响。这些发现表明，补充 5%壳寡糖 12 周可能不会在正常大鼠中引起脂质代谢紊乱和肝毒性。
