Original Paper

Lower Absorption of Cholesteryl Oleate in Rats Supplemented with Areca catechu L. Extract
Seon-Min Jeon^a, Hee-Sook Kim^b, Taehoon G. Lee^c, Sung-Ho Ryu^c, Pann-Ghill Suh^c, Sung-June Byun^d, Yong Bok Park^e, Myung-Sook Choi<sup>a

a</sup>Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Kyungpook National University, Taegu;
^bDepartment of Food Science and Technology, Kyungsung University, Pusan;
^cDepartment of Life Science, POSTECH, Pohang,
^dCatholic Medical School, and
^eDepartment of Genetic Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Taegu, Korea

Address of Corresponding Author

Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 2000;44:170-176 (DOI: 10.1159/000012841)

  Key Words

• Areca nut extract
• Cholesteryl oleate
• Pancreatic cholesterol esterase

  Abstract

Areca catechu L. extracts I and II, prepared using two different solvent systems, exhibited strong inhibitory activities against pancreatic cholesterol esterase (pCEase) in vitro. To determine their cholesterol-lowering effects, these two extracts were investigated by analyzing plasma lipid levels, intestinal enzyme activities, and the absorption of cholesteryl oleate. For 6 days, male rats were fed a diet containing cholesteryl oleate (0.5 g/100 g of body weight) either with or without the Areca nut extract supplements. The supplementation of the two Areca nut extracts significantly lowered the concentrations of plasma cholesterol by 13.4 and 11.7% and plasma triglycerides by 35.0 and 36.9%, respectively, compared with the pre-experimental values. However, when the cholesteryl oleate diet was fed without any Areca nut extract in high-cholesterol control, the plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations significantly increased by 13.6 and 15.9%, respectively, compared with the pre-experimental values. After 6 days of treatment, the intestinal pCEase activities were significantly lower in the groups supplemented with the Areca nut extracts (37.8 and 26.5%) than in the group with no extract supplement (83.2%). The supplements also significantly elevated the excretion of [1,2(n)-³H]cholesteryl oleate administered orally, when determined by the large intestinal contents, 930.5 Bq/day (Areca I) and 1,766.3 Bq/day (Areca II) vs. 98.1 Bq/day (high-cholesteryl oleate (CO) control). The inhibition of pCEase activity with the supplementation of the Areca nut extracts could account for the decrease in [1,2(n)-³H]cholesteryl oleate absorption that resulted in decreased radioactivity in blood.

Copyright © 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Myung-Sook Choi, PhD
Department of Food Science and Nutrition
Kyungpook National University, 702-701, Taegu (Korea)
Tel. +82 53 950 6232, Fax +82 53 950 6229
E-Mail mschoi@knu.ac.kr

  Article Information

Received: Received: March 24, 2000
Accepted: June 14, 2000
Number of Print Pages : 7
Number of Figures : 2, Number of Tables : 4, Number of References : 28