OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of purple sweet potato on lipid metabolism and oxidative stress in hyperlipidemic rats.

METHODSForty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal control group, high-fat control group, high purple sweet potato groups, low purple sweet potato group. The rats were fed with different diets for 6w respectively.

RESULTSSerum TC, TG levels were significantly lower in high dosage group than in high-fat control group; while only serum TG was significantly lower in low dosage group than in high-fat control group, these changes started at the third week and lasted to the end of experiment. Serum LDL-C and AI levels were significantly lower in high and low dosage group than in high-fat control group, whereas, serum HDL-C was significantly higher than that in high-fat control group at w3 and lasted to the end of experiment. Serum SOD was significantly higher in high and low dosage group than in high-fat control group, whereas, serum MDA was significantly lower than that in high-fat control group at w6.

CONCLUSIONPurple sweet potato can decrease serum lipids and reduce hepatic oxidative stress in hyperlipidemic rats.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Hyperlipidemias ; metabolism ; Ipomoea batatas ; Lipid Metabolism ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of purple sweet potato flavonoids (PSPF) on blood glucose and lipids levels in diabetic rats.

METHODSDiabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 65 mg.kg(-1)) in rats. The changes of fasting blood glucose and lipids levels in serum and body weight, food and fluid intake of diabetic rats treated with PSPF were examined.

RESULTSDiabetic symptoms were ameliorated after rats were fed with PSPF. The fasting blood glucose (FBG), GSP, TC, TG, LDL-C were decreased and serum HDL-C levels were increased (P<0.01) in high, medium dose PSPF groups; while FBG, serum GSP, TG, LDL-C were also improved in low dose group (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONPurple sweet potato flavonoids can decrease the blood glucose and lipids levels in diabetic rats.

Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; blood ; drug therapy ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Ipomoea batatas ; chemistry ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Sweet potato is an important food crop that can also be used as an industrial raw material. Sucrose is the main form of long-distance carbohydrate transport in plants, and sucrose transporter (SUT) regulates the transmembrane transport and distribution of sucrose during plant growth and metabolism. Moreover, SUT plays a key role in phloem mediated source-to-sink sucrose transport and physiological activities, supplying sucrose for the sink tissues. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequences of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) cloning according to the transcripts of the two SUT coding genes which were differentially expressed in sweet potato storage roots with different starch properties. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to clarify the classification of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆. The subcellular localization of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ was determined by transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. The function of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ in sucrose and hexose absorption and transport was identified using yeast functional complementarity system. The expression pattern of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ in sweet potato organs were analyzed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Arabidopsis plants heterologous expressing IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ genes were obtained using floral dip method. The differences in starch and sugar contents between transgenic and wild-type Arabidopsis were compared. The results showed IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ encoded SUT proteins with a length of 505 and 521 amino acids, respectively, and both proteins belonged to the SUT1 subfamily. IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ were located in the cell membrane and were able to transport sucrose, glucose and fructose in the yeast system. In addition, IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ was also able to transport mannose. The expression of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ was higher in leaves, lateral branches and main stems, and the expression of IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ was higher in lateral branches, stems and storage roots. After IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ were heterologously expressed in Arabidopsis, the plants grew normally, but the biomass increased. The heterologous expression of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ increased the soluble sugar content, leaf size and 1 000-seed weight of Arabidopsis plants. Heterologous expression of IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ increased starch accumulation in leaves and root tips and 1 000-seed weight of seeds, but decreased soluble sugar content. The results obtained in this study showed that IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ might be important genes regulating sucrose and sugar content traits in sweet potato. They might carry out physiological functions on cell membrane, such as transmembrane transport of sucrose, sucrose into and out of sink tissue, as well as transport and unloading of sucrose into phloem. The changes in traits result from their heterologous expression in Arabidopsis indicates their potential in improving the yield of other plants or crops. The results obtained in this study provide important information for revealing the functions of IbSUT₆₂₇₈₈ and IbSUT₈₁₆₁₆ in starch and glucose metabolism and formation mechanism of important quality traits in sweet potato.
Ipomoea batatas/metabolism* ; Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Sucrose/metabolism* ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolism* ; DNA, Complementary ; Phylogeny ; Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics* ; Membrane Transport Proteins/metabolism* ; Starch/metabolism* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant

OBJECTIVETo investigate the protective effect of purple sweet potato flavonoids (PSPF) on CCl4-induced acute liver injury in mice.

METHODSSixty mice were randomly divided into six groups (n=10 in each): blank group, model group, PSPF groups (400 mg*kg(-1), 200 mg*kg-1 and 100 mg*kg(-1)) and positive control group (DDB 150 mg*kg(-1)). Acute liver injury was induced by administration of peanut oil with 0.1% CCl4 (10 mg*kg(-1)) in mice. The viscera index, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were measured, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) in hepatic tissues were also measured. The pathological changes of liver were observed with microscopy.

RESULTSPSPF significantly decreased serum ALT, AST and LDH levels (P<0.05 or P<0.01) and MDA content in hepatic tissues (P<0.01), increased the activities of SOD (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONPurple sweet potato total flavonoids can prevent CCl4-induced acute liver injury in mice, which may be related to inhibition of lipid peroxidation and reduction of oxygen free radicals.

Animals ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; toxicity ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; etiology ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Disease Models, Animal ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Ipomoea batatas ; chemistry ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

PURPOSE: Anthocyanins from purple sweet potato (PSP) have been investigated in vitro and in animals and found to have a protective effect against oxidative hepatic damage. In this study, we investigated that aqueous extract of PSP can ameliorate the dysfunction of lipid metabolism in mice fed a high fat/cholesterol diet. METHODS: Forty C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 5 groups (n = 8) and fed one of the following diets for 8 weeks; normal fat (NF) diet; high fat/cholesterol (HFC) diet; HFC with 1.25% PSP (HFPL) diet; HFC with 2.5% PSP (HFPM) diet; HFC with 5% PSP (HFPH) diet. RESULTS: Non-alcoholic fatty liver was manifested in the HFC group by showing increased levels in plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), increased level of TC and presence of many large lipid droplets in the liver, and increased fat cell size in the HFC group compared with the NF group. However, administration of HFC induced a significant decrease in food intake, resulting in decrease in fat mass. Coadministration of PSP did not lead to reversal of body weight changes, ALT activity, and lipid levels in plasma and the liver, but suppressed excess enlargement of the fat cell size through increasing carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT-1) gene expression in the liver. Accordingly, the number of fat droplets in the liver was reduced in PSP administered groups. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these results suggest that PSP may have a protective effect on the dysfunction of lipid metabolism. Conduct of further studies on the coordinated regulation of PSP for lipid metabolic homeostasis at the liver-adipose tissue axis is needed.
Adipocytes ; Alanine Transaminase ; Animals ; Anthocyanins ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Body Weight Changes ; Carnitine ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Diet ; Eating ; Fatty Liver* ; Gene Expression ; Homeostasis ; Ipomoea batatas* ; Lipid Metabolism ; Liver ; Mice* ; Plasma

We have recombined genes VvSUC11, VvSUC12 from Vitis vinifera L., and root-specific promoters of sweet potato storage protein gene from Ipomoea batatas L. Lam., named as SP1 and SP2. We have constructed a vector pCAMBIA2301-SP1- VvSUC11-SP2-VvSUC12 using pCAMBIA2301 as an original vector. VvSUC11 and VvSUC12 were under the control of root-specific promoters of sweet potato storage protein gene. We transformed the vector into KWS-9103 breeding line of Beta vulgaris L. with Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. We have established the optimal genetic transformation protocol of sugar beet as following: the explants pre-cultured for 4 days were immersed in Agrobacterium suspension of OD(600)=0.5, supplemented with 0.005% Silwet L-77, and followed by a 4-day culture on medium containing cefotaxime, then the buds were selected on medium containing kanamycin and cefotaxime. The percentage of kanamycin-resistant buds was as high as 42%. Results of PCR and RT-PCR proved that the target genes had integrated into sugar beet genome and expressed. It will lay a foundation for further studying their function in Beta vulgaris.
Agrobacterium ; genetics ; metabolism ; Beta vulgaris ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; Ipomoea batatas ; genetics ; Membrane Transport Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; physiology ; Plant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; physiology ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Recombination, Genetic ; Transformation, Genetic ; Vitis ; genetics