Effects of various kinds of edible seaweeds in diets on the development of D-Galactosamine-Induced hepatopathy in rats

In the present study we investigated the effects of 11 kinds of edible scaweeds (6 brown and 5 red algae) which contain characteristic seaweed dietary fibers on the induction of D-GalN (D-galactosamine)-hepatopathy in rats (Exps. 1 and 2). Then, the efficacy of various components prepared from Gelidium sp., which was found to alleviate the hepatopathy in Exps. 1 and 2, was examined (Exp. 3). The rats were fed the diets containing various kinds of seaweeds (Exps. 1 and 2), or several components of Gelidium sp. such as total dietary fiber (TDF), soluble dietary fiber (SDF), insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) and dietary fiber-free components (DFFQ (Exp. 3), for 8 d. The rats in all experiments were injected with D-GalN (800 mg/kg body weight) intraperitoneally at the 7th day to induce liver injury and were sacrificed 24 h after the injection Of D-GaIN. The serum transaminase activities (ALT and AST) and lactate dchydrogenase (LDH) were determined to evaluate the levels of hepatopathy. In Exp. 3, the total GSH concentration in the liver, plasma and cecal contents and organic acid concentration in cccal contents were also evaluated. In Exps. 1 and 2, repressive effects against D-GalN-hepatopathy were shown by four seawccds Lanlinaria sp., Gelidiuni sp., Sargasstim ftilvelluin and Eisenia bicyclis. In Exp. 3, it was found that protective activity in Gelidittin sp. against D-GalN-hepatopathy existed not only in the SDF but also in the DFFC fraction. The results in Exp. 3 also indicated that the total GSH but not organic acid concentration in the cecal contents were significantly correlated with serum AST activity, suggesting that the protective effect of Gelidiuni sp. on D-GalN-hepatopathy in rats is related to GSH metabolism in the intestine.