Antiobesity effect of dietary supplementation with Laminaria japonica and Laminaria saccharina in rats fed high fat diet

초록

Obesity has become an important problem in many countries. It has been reported that seaweed has many functions, such as anticancer, antihyperlipidemics, antioxidation and so on. The purpose of this study was to investigate antiobesity effect in the rats fed high fat diets supplemented with Laminaria japonica and Laminaria saccharina after 8 weeks. Eighteen male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were divided into 3 groups randomly: high fat diet (HF) group, high fat diet supplemented with Laminaria japonica (HFJ) group, and high fat diet supplemented with Laminaria saccharina (HFS) group. The food efficiency ratio (FER) in the HF group was higher compared to the HFJ and HFS groups, but difference was not significant. Relative weight of liver and retroperitoneal fat were lower in the HFJ and HFS groups compared to the HF group. The liver weight per 100 gram body weight of rat was significantly more in the HF group than in the HFJ group. Relative weight of epididymal fat was lower and that of sarcous tissues was higher in the HFJ group compared to other groups, which was not significant. Serum triglyceride (TG) levels in the HFJ and HFS groups were significantly lower compared to the HF group. The ratio of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level to total cholesterol (TC) level in serum was higher compared to the HF group, even though significant difference was not showed. The sizes of abdominal adipose cells in the HFJ and HFS groups were significantly smaller compared to the HF group. This showed that Laminaria japonica and Laminaria saccharina can prevent adipose cells from hypertrophy. This study indicated that Laminaria japonica and Laminaria saccharina have the effect of antiobesity in rats fed a high fat diet. Therefore, this study may provide the foundational data for development of functional food using these seaweed.