황국곡자 투여가 지방질 대사에 미치는 영향

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rice contatining Aspergillus terreus (Hwangkuk, HK) on lipid metabolism in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) for 8 weeks. SD rats were divided into five groups: Normal, [Negative Control (HCD), Positive Control (lovastatin)], [HK 0.5 g/kg and HK 2 g/kg]. Hepatic total lipids significantly decreased following treatment with rice contatining Asp. terreus. Furthermore, this treatment led to higher expression levels of HMG-CoA reductase, LDL receptor and SREBP2 mRNA in the liver compared with the HCD group. In addition, histopathologic evaluation showed that feeding rats with rice containing Asp. terreus suppressed hepatic steatosis. These results suggest that rice containing Asp. terreus may be able to regulate of cholesterol synthesis and prevent hyperlipidemia.