떫은감 (Diospyros kaki Thumb.)이 흰쥐의 식이성 이상지질혈증에 미치는 영향

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential of freeze-dried persimmon powder (Diospyros kaki Thumb.) to protect against dyslipidemia induced by a high-fat/cholesterol diet (HFD) in a rat model. Methods: Fifty Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control (NC), high-fat/cholesterol control (HC), tannin in HFD (HT, 1% of diet), immature persimmon in HFD (HI, 7% of diet), and mature persimmon in HFD (HM, 7% of diet). Tannin was used as a positive control. Biochemical, molecular, and histopathological changes were observed in the blood and liver. Results: We confirmed that a high fat/cholesterol diet successfully induced dyslipidemia, which was characterized by significantly altered lipid profiles in the plasma and liver. However, oxidized low-density lipoprotein levels, histopathological damage in the liver, and hepatic triglyceride levels were significantly reduced in all HT, HI, and HM groups compared to those in the HF group. In contrast, plasma apolipoprotein B level was significantly reduced only in the HT and HM groups, whereas reduction of the LDL-C level was detected only in the HI group. Although HF-induced sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) gene expression was significantly reduced in all treated groups, downstream gene expression levels varied among the different groups; significant reduction of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMGCR) gene expression was detected only in the HI group, whereas cholesterol $7{\alpha}$-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) gene expression was significantly elevated only in the HM group. Conclusion: Taken together, the data suggest that protection of LDL oxidation and hepatic lipogenesis might be, at least partly, attributed to tannin in persimmons. However, the identified mechanisms varied up to the maturation stage of persimmon. In the case of immature persimmon, modulation of FAS and HMGCR gene expression was prominent, whereas in the case of mature persimmon, modulation of CYP7A1 gene expression was prominent. 본 연구는 성숙도가 다른 떫은감 분말의 이상지질혈증 개선 기능을 확인하기 위하여 Wistar계 흰쥐를 사용하여 시험하였다. 이상지질혈증 유도를 위해 7주간 고지방/고콜레스테롤 식이를 급여하였으며, 미성숙감과 성숙감 건분은 7%, 양성대조군으로 탄닌은 1%의 수준으로 식이에 함께 넣어 같은 기간 동안 제공하였다. 체중의 증가, 혈장과 간 조직의 지질 및 콜레스테롤 수준을 바탕으로 이상지질혈증 모델이 형성되었음을 확인하였다. 탄닌, 성숙감, 미성숙감을 섭취한 경우에는 체중, 혈장 Apo B 및 ox-LDL 수준이 유의적으로 감소하였으며, 특별히 미성숙감은 LDL-C이 감소하는 경향을 나타냈다. 탄닌, 성숙감, 미성숙감의 섭취는 간에서 병리조직학적 손상과 총지질 및 중성지방의 수준을 감소시키는데 유사한 효과를 나타냈다. 그러나 유전자 발현은 서로 다른 양상으로, 탄닌군은 콜레스테롤 합성과 관련된 HMGCR 유