OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of sea cucumber cerebroside (SCC) on the lipid metabolism in rats with orotic acid-induced fatty liver.

METHODSThe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model was established by adding orotic acid to the diets in rats. The rats were randomly assigned to four groups:control group, NAFLD group, NAFLD + low SCC group and NAFLD + high SCC group. After 10 days of feeding, the serum and hepatic lipid concentrations and the aminopherase activities were measured; the composition of hepatic fatty acids was also analyzed.

RESULTThe serum TC and TG levels reduced significantly in the NAFLD group as compared with the controls (P<0.05), while the sea cucumber cereborside feeding raised the serum lipid concentrations (P<0.05). The hepatic TC and TG levels dramatically increased in the NAFLD group in comparison with the controls (P<0.05, P<0.01), while the hepatic lipid accumulations decreased in both SCC groups (P<0.05, P<0.01). The ALT and AST activities in the NAFLD group increased markedly when compared with the controls (P<0.05, P <0.01), while the sea cucumber cerebroside feeding attenuated the hepatic injury levels (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) activity increased significantly in the NAFLD group (P<0.05), but decreased in SCC groups (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSea cucumber cerebroside can attenuate the rat fatty liver induced by orotic acid.