Study On The Regulation Blood Lipids And Mechanism In Mice Of Earthworm Lyophilized Powder

Earthworms have been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for several thousand years, along with the advances in technology, the research on the medicinal value of earthworms is more in-depth. To investigate the modulating effects and mechanism of earthworm lyophilized powder on the level of serum lipids in experimental mice, the mice of 18-22 g were randomly divided into five groups, the mice in normal group were fed with standard feeds, the mice in hyperlipidemic group were fed with high-level lipid feeds, and the other three experimental groups were fed with high-level lipid feeds while being treated with earthworm lyophilized powder at dosages of 0.6g/kg,0.4g/kg,0.2g/kg respectively. After 10 weeks, the contents of Total Cholesterol (TC), Triglycerol (TG), High density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), Low density lipoprotein -cholesterol(LDL-C) Apolipoprotein AI (ApoAI), Apolipoprotein B (ApoB), Maleic Dialdehyde (MDA) and the activity of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) in serum were measured. In the end of experiment, six samples of mice in each group were killed and their livers were got and plunged into liquid nitrogen immediately. The samples were stored for determination of apoAI, apoB and Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) mRNA levels by RT-PCR. The effects of earthworm lyophilized powder aqueous solution on removing superoxide anion (O2-) and inhibiting hydroxyl radical (OH") were also determined.The results showed that Different dosages of earthworm lyophilized powder decreased the levels of serum TC, TG, LDL-C and increased the level of serum HDL-C markedly. Lowered the levels of ApoB in plasma, while increased the level of apoAI and apoB/apoAI in plasma significantly. Earthworm lyophilized powder decreased the level of MDA and SOD in serum markedly,removed superoxide anion (O2-) and inhibited hydroxyl radical (OH-) effectivly. it up-regulated hepatic ApoAI and LDLR mRNA expression, while down-regulated hepatic ApoB mRNA expression markedly.The results from these studies indicated that Earthworm lyophilized powder was able to decrease serum lipids levels of hyperlipidemia mice and attenuates lipid peroxidation, suggesting the preventive effect on AS and cardiovascular diseases.