Ferulic Acid, a Natural Phenolic Antioxidant Modulates Altered Lipid Profiles During Alcohol and Thermally Oxidized Sunflower Oil Induced Toxicity

Abstract

Ethanol is a powerful inducer of hyperlipidemia in both animals and humans. Lipid abnormalities seen after ethanol consumption include alterations in the levels of free cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, fatty acids, phospholipids and triacylglycerol. Intake of high fat diet along with ethanol primes the hyperlipidemic effects of ethanol. Alcohol induced disturbances in lipid pattern were found to be exacerbated when the fat is thermally oxidized. In the present communication, we have investigated the influence of ferulic acid, a naturally occurring nutritional component on alcohol and thermally oxidized sunflower oil (?PUFA) induced hyperlipidemia. To evaluate the antihyperlipidemic potential of ferulic acid (FA), we analyzed the variation in lipid profiles cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL) and free fatty acids (FFA) in plasma, liver, heart and kidney. The results showed that there was a significant elevation in the levels of cholesterol, TG and FFA in alcohol, ?PUFA, alcohol + ?PUFA administered rats, which was effectively abrogated by FA treatment. In contrast, the phospholipids were significantly decreased in liver and kidney, but increased in plasma and heart during alcohol, ?PUFA and alcohol + ?PUFA ingestion, which were positively modulated by FA. Inspite of lipid accumulation, the gain in body weight was less in alcohol, ?PUFA and alcohol + ?PUFA groups compared to control rats. FA treated groups showed a significant improvement in the weight. Thus from the results obtained, we conclude that FA effectively protects the system against alcohol and ?PUFA induced tox-icity and can be developed as a potent drug for the treatment of hyperlipidemia.

Key Words:

• Alcohol
• sunflower oil
• PUFA
• lipids
• body weight
• hyperlipidemia