Hypolipidemic effect of porphyran extracted from Pyropia yezoensis in ICR mice with high fatty diet

Porphyran is a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from Pyropia, a genus of marine red algae. In this study, the biological activity of porphyran from Pyropia yezoensis as an oral hypolipidemic agent in Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice was investigated. Porphyran lowered serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C/HDL-C) ratio 28 days after administration. Porphyran at a dose of 200 mg kg(-1) d(-1) can decrease the percentage of body weight gain (BWG) and serum lipid profiles of mice significantly, similar to Zhibituo (a hypolipidemic drug approved by the China Food and Drug Administration in 2009). The mice that have taken porphyran showed an obvious increase in the fecal TC and TG compared with the blank control group. The liver weight, lipid composition (TG and TC), liver damage index (serum alanine aminotransferase, ALT; aspartate aminotransaminase, AST; and alkaline phosphatase, ALP), and hepatocyte morphology results in mice on a high-fat diet imply that dietary administration of porphyran can alleviate liver damage induced by the diet. Therefore, porphyran may be useful as a functional food additive, hypolipidemic, and liver-protective agent.