ABSTRACT
In this study adult male CF-1 mice were treated on a daily basis as follows: Group A - controls, Group B - ethanol (ET) treated (1.25 g ET/kg body weight (b.wt.], Group C - ET plus 4 mg Capsaicin (C)/kg b.wt., and Group D - ET plus 4 mg dihydrocapsaicin (DC)/kg b.wt. At the end of the sixth week experimental period the animals were anesthetized, exsanguinated and hepatectomized. Our study suggests that ET administered at the rate of 1.25 g ET/kg b.wt. reaches a mean serum value of 43 + 14 mg/dL within 15 minutes. In addition, chronic ET ingestion significantly decreases mean hepatic glycogen content and mean serum triglyceride concentration of the animals. Conjoint administration of ET plus C decreases significantly mean body weight and mean ET and the triglyceride concentration of the serum. Prolonged ET ingestion plus DC administration decreases mean wet liver weight and lowers significantly the mean serum ET, cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations of CF-1 mice.
Subject(s)
Alcoholism/blood , Capsaicin/analogs & derivatives , Capsaicin/pharmacology , Ethanol/blood , Animals , Body Weight/drug effects , Cholesterol/blood , Liver/drug effects , Liver Glycogen/metabolism , Male , Mice , Organ Size/drug effects , Triglycerides/blood , Weight Gain/drug effectsABSTRACT
Juvenile guinea pigs were maintained either on a standard diet (cholesterol-free) or a 0.5% cholesterol-enriched vitamin C deficient diet for six weeks. Half of the animals of each dietary group were treated with dihydrocapsaicin (DC) at the rate of 8 mg per animal per day. DC administration significantly altered food consumption, body weight, and dry weight of feces of animals maintained on the standard diet. In addition, the mean serum triglyceride concentration of these animals was significantly decreased with DC treatment. Food consumption, body weight and (wet) fecal weight of animals maintained on the 0.5% cholesterol-enriched diet were significantly lower than the corresponding values in control animals even though the liver was much larger in proportion to the total body weight. The mean serum cholesterol concentration of the animals fed a cholesterol-enriched diet was significantly elevated. However, in animals also receiving DC, the cholesterol and triglyceride levels were comparable to controls fed a regular diet. The gross and microscopic fatty infiltration of the liver observed in the cholesterol-fed animal were minimized in those animals fed cholesterol and DC.
