• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.8
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• pp.1105-1113
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• 2015

Bokbunja (Rubus coreanus) is a Korean fruit and wild black raspberry that has antioxidant, anticancer, and beauty effects due to its abundant polyphenols and anthocyanins. The purpose of this study was to investigate the blood flow improvement effect of Bokbunja seed oil (BSO) in a high-fat diet-fed mouse model. We examined improvement of blood flow and its related biomarkers in vivo. Mice were divided into four groups; Control, high fat diet control (negative control, HFD), salmon oil control (positive control, HFD+commercial n-3 fatty acid), and BSO experiment groups (HFD+2 g/2,000 kcal, HFD+4 g/2,000 kcal). After the mice were sacrificed, plasma triglyceride, cholesterol, and blood flow-related biomarkers (coagulation factor 7, 12, serotonin, TXB2, PT, and aPTT) were measured in mouse blood and organs. BSO reduced blood viscosity through improvement of blood lipids (cholesterol and plasma triglycerides) as well as levels of blood coagulation factors and blood platelet activity. BSO also delayed blood coagulation time. Thus, we confirmed that BSO inhibits excessive blood clotting of blood vessels and improves blood flow. Taken together, these results suggest that BSO decreases plasma triglycerides and cholesterol and improves blood flow by regulating biomarkers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.961-969
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• 2015

To investigate the effect of n-3 fatty acid from Bokbunja (Rubus coreanus Miq.) seed oil (BSO), we examined improvement of plasma triglycerides and cholesterol in vivo. Five-week-old ICR mice were divided into five groups of six mice each; Control, high fat diet (HFD) control (negative control), salmon oil control (positive control, HFD+commercial n-3 fatty acid), and BSO experimental groups (HFD+1 g/60 kg BW/d, HFD+2 g/60 kg BW/d). After 4 weeks of BSO treatment, we measured serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels. The levels of low-density lipoprotein/very-low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and total cholesterol were significantly (P<0.05) reduced in the group fed BSO at 2 g/60 kg BW/d compared to the negative control. Levels of triglycerides, which are similar to cholesterol, were also significantly (P<0.05) reduced in the same group. To investigate further, we tested blood coagulation parameters. Prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were not significantly different among the five groups according to BSO. However, the 2 g/60 kg BW/d BSO group treated with PT and aPTT showed a tendency to live longer than the negative control. Taken together, BSO might improve blood homeostasis mediated via hypo-lipidemic and anti-coagulation activities.