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The effect of Codium fragile (Chlorophyta) extract on hepatic dysfunction and hyperlipidemia in rats

Kap Joo Park, Eun Kyoung Hwang, Chan Sun Park, Jae Seok Lee, Myung Hwan Cho

To examine the effect of Codium fragile on blood cholesterol and lipid metabolism, hyperlipidemiawas induced in experimental animal rats through the administration of a hypercholesterolemic diet. Codium fragile powder was then administered to the rats for 5 weeks, afterwhich, blood biochemical changes such as blood cholesterol,Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST: serumSGOT) andAlanineAminotransferase (ALT: serumSGPT) enzyme activity, etc. were determined.And histological changes in liver cells were examined using an electronmicroscope. Codium fragile treatment resulted in a significant reduction of the levels of total cholesterol, blood triglyceride and low-density cholesterol (LDL. Chol) compared to the control rats. In contrast the expression levels of high-density cholesterol (HDL. chol.) were increased. TheAST value of the Codium fragile administration group was significantly reduced and the blood ALT value of the Codium fragile group showed a significant decrease in comparison to the negative control group. Degeneration of hepatic tissues due to the consumption of a high lipid diet for a long period of time was reported in the negative control group; the accumulation of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm was also observed. On the other hand, in the Codium fragile administration group, a substantial reduction in the accumulation of lipid droplets in the cytoplasmwas seen, and in addition, it was confirmed that the degeneration of hepatic tissues recovered almost to level of that of the normal control group. In summary, this study demonstrated the beneficial possibilities of Codium fragile in improving the abnormality of lipid metabolism caused by liver cell damage and hyperlipidemia.