• BMB Reports
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1997

The ability of Hep-G2 cells to process $[^{125}I]LDL$ under basal conditions was investigated. The receptor-binding and internalization of $[^{125}I]LDL$ increased with the time of incubation in a saturable manner. After 4 h of incubation, 31.4 ng of $[^{125}I]LDL$ was cell bound. The cells rapidly internalized $[^{125}I]LDL$ via specific, receptor-mediated endocytosis. The amount of internalized $[^{125}I]LDL$ reached a maximun of 96.7 ng at 2 h of incubation and remained constant for the next 2 h. The rate of degradation of internalized $[^{125}I]LDL$ proceeded in a linear manner over the entire 4 h of incubation after an initial lag period. The effects of individial fatty acids (C18:0. C18:1, C18:2. and C18:3), differing in their degree of unsaturation. on the receptor-binding, internalization and degradation of $[^{125}I]LDL$ were also investigated. Inclusion of 1.0 mM of each fatty acid into the culture medium significantly increased $[^{125}I]LDL$ metabolism in Hep-G2 cells. Among the fatty acids tested, stearic acid had the least effect on the receptor-binding activity. There were no significant differences among the unsaturated fatty acids in LDL-receptor binding. The effect of individual fatty acids on the $[^{125}I]LDL$ uptake was similar to that of the receptor-binding. showing a significantly lower effect with stearic acid. The amount of degraded material of internalized $[^{125}I]LDL$ was the lowest with stearic acid when it was compared with unsaturated fatty acids.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.87-93
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• 2004

The effect of ginsenoside-Rb2, one of a major pharmacological component of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, on low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor expression was investigated and compared with hypocholesterolemic drug lovastatin. In HepG2 cell, exogenous cholesterol decreased LDL receptor mRNA expression, but ginsenoside-Rb2 recovered this reduction of LDL receptor mRNA up to normal expression level. Lovastatin also increased LDL receptor mRNA expression as similar as ginsenoside-Rb2 did. The reduction of sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) transcription by exogenous cholesterol was also similarly recovered by ginsenoside-Rb2 and lovastatin addition. Compound K, a metabolite of ginsenoside-Rb2 and -Rb1 by human intestinal bacteria also increased the SREBP mRNA expression in cholesterol-enriched condition. Ginsenoside-Rb2 seems to up-regulate LDL receptor mRNA expression through the induction of de novo SREBP transcription. Therefore, increased expression of SREBP mRNA by ginsenoside-Rb2 elevated the LDL receptor mRNA expression in HepG2 cells, and these inductions possibly drop the plasma cholesterol level in hypercholesterolemia patients, in vivo, as likely in case of lovastatin.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.378-392
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• 1991

A series of studies in monkeys and hamsters, and reevaluation of published human data, indicate that dietary saturated fatty acids exert a dissimilar metabolic impact on cholesterol metabolism. Myristic acid(14 : 0) appears to have a major cholesterol-raising effect by means of decreasing LDL receptor activity and by increasing the direct production of LDL (from sources other than VLDL-catabolism) Palmitic acid (16 : 0) appears neutral in most cases (plasma cholesterol<200mg/dl) or until the LDL receptor is down-regulated, as with high cholesterol intake or obesity. In such cases. the down-regulated LDL receptors coupled with an increased VLDL production (induced by 16 : 0 and 18 : 1) can divert VLDL remnants to LDL and expand the LDL pool. Furthermore. the cholesterolemic impact of any saturated fatty acid can be countered up to a saturable 'threshold' level by dietary linoleic acid (18 : 2) which up-regulates the LDL receptor. Once above this 'threshold' the major fatty acids (16 : 0, 18 : 0, 18 : 1, 18 : 2, 18 : 3) appear to exert an equal impact on the circulating cholesterol concentration.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.344-351
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of isoflavones on lipid concentrations and hepatic LDL receptor mRNA level in growing female rats. Twenty four rats (body weight $75\pm5g$) were randomly assigned to one of two groups, consuming control diet or isoflavones supplemented diet (57mg isoflavones/100g diet). All rats has been fed on experimental diet and deionized water ad libitum for 9 weeks. The concentration of triglyceride and total cholesterol were measured in serum and liver. Serum HDL cholesterol was measured. Hepatic LDL receptor mRNA level was tested by RT-PCR. Supplementation of isoflavones did not affect weight gain, mean food intake and food efficiency ratio. Serum total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol of isoflavones supplemented rats were significantly lower than those of control rats (p<0.05). But hepatic cholseterol was not influenced by supplementation of isoflavones. Hepatic LDL receptor mRNA level not significantly different between control group and isoflavones supplemented group. Therefore, isoflavones may be beneficial on serum cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol lowering in growing female rats.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.175-180
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• 2005

Green tea, which has high polyphenols amount, is thought to have hypocholesterolemic effects. The present study was performed to further examine the hypocholesterolemic action of green tea, especially (-) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) for its effect on diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=15) were fed a green tea-free diet (control), $1.0\%$ green tea catechin (catechin) or $0.5\%$ green tea catechin EGCG for seven weeks. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by adding $1\%$ cholesterol and $0.5\%$ cholic acid to all diets. There was no difference in food intake and body weight gain among the groups. The green tea EGCG treatment led to a significant improvement in plasma levels of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL)/LDL ratio (p<0.05). There was no significant effect on the plasma HDL-cholesterol level. The catechin treatment led to a 4.19-fold increase in the LDL-receptor mRNA level compared to the control, but the EGCG treatment did not affect the hepatic LDL-receptor mRNA level. Our results suggest that when blood cholesterol level is down-regulated by green tea EGCG, the LDL receptor gene-independent pathway may dominate the hypocholesterolemic action of EGCG.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 1993

The Preventive effect of the saponin fraction of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer against hyperchole- sterolemia was demonstrated by assaying the cholesterol and triacylglyceride level of the blood serum and liver of rats fed high-cholesterol diet with and/or without ginsenoside. To understand the mechanism of the preventive action of ginsenoside, ginsenoside effect on LDL receptor binding ability, cholesterol level, and cAMP level of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells cultured under various conditions were examined. When LDL (20 $\mu$g/ml) was added to the culture medium for CHO cell culture, LDL receptor binding activity of the cell was suppressed down to 58% of that of normal group. Ginsenosides at 10--2% and 10-3% level (w/v) were shown to exert an appreciable stimulatory effect on CHO cell LDL receptor activity, which partially overcame the suppression due to the presence of LDL (20 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) in the medium. Ginsenosides also reduced the increased cholesterol level of test group almost to that of normal group, and it increased cAMP level, which was usually reduced to 55% of that of the normal group due to the presence of LDL in the medium. Comparison of Kd and Bmax value of CHO cells cultured under different conditions revealed that this stimulation was due not to the receptor's binding affinity but to its number. Addition of ginsenoside (10-2%) decreased the uptake of taurocholic acid as much as 20% at the actively transporting everted ileal sacs, but it failed to form a large mixed micelles with taurocholic acid, which was one of the proposed mechanisms by which ginsenoside inhibits bile acid reabsorption. From the above results, it seemed likely that ginsenoside prevented hypercholestrolemia by decreasing cholesterol level in cells thereby relieving the inhibition of LDL receptor synthesis by cholesterol and also by inhibiting bile acid reabsorption from the small intestine.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.1899-1907
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• 2013

We investigated the effects of unripe black raspberry water extract (UBR-W) and oxidation-LDL treatment on cholesterol levels. Experiments using an established human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) showed a time-dependent increase in expression of LDL receptor after UBR-W treatment. Expression of LDL receptor-related genes, such as SREBP1 and 2, increased upon UBR-W treatment. However, expression of HDL-related genes was unaffected by UBR-W. HMG-CoA reductase activity was reduced by UBR-W treatment, whereas HMG-CoA mRNA expression significantly increased. In addition, the ApoB/ApoA1 mRNA level, which is a predictor of cardiovascular risk, was reduced in a time-dependent manner by UBR-W treatment. Macrophage-like cells (RAW 264.7) showed increased expression of ox-LDL-related genes, such as CD36, scavenger receptor-A, adipophilin, and PPAR-gamma, upon ox-LDL treatment compared to untreated control cells, and quantitative lipid analysis indicated a dramatic increase in lipid accumulation. However, UBR-W treatment significantly reduced expression of ox-LDL-related genes and largely prevented lipid accumulation. The results indicate that UBR-W mediates a cholesterol-lowering effect via inhibition of cholesterol synthesis and induction of LDL uptake through SREBP.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 1999

Apolipoprotein B-100 (apo B-100) is an important component in plasma low density lipoproteins (LDL). It function as the ligand for the LDL receptor in peripheral cells. The LDLs are removed from the circulation by both high-affinity receptor-mediated and receptor-independant pathways. LDLs are heterogeneous in their lipid content, size and density and certain LDL subspecies increase risk of atherosclerosis due to differences in the conformation of apo B in the particle. In the present study , surface and core peptide fraction of Apo B-100 have been characterized by comparing peptide-mapping and fluorescence spectroscopy. Surface fragments of apo B-100 were generated by digestion of LDL with either trypsin , pronase, or pancreatin elastase. Surface fractions were fractionated on a Sephadex G-50 column. The remaining core fragments were delipidated and redigested with the above enzymes, and the resulting core peptides were compared with surface peptides. Results from peptide-mapping by HPLC showed pronase-digestion was more extensive than trypsin -digestion to remove surface peptide fraction from LDL. Fluorescence spectra showed that core fractions contained higher amount of tryptophan than surface fractions, and it indicated that core fraction wa smore hydrophobic than surface fractions. A comparison of the behavior of the core and surface provided informations about the regions of apo B-100 involved in LDL metabolism and also about the structural features concerning the formation of atherosclerosis.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2016

Objectives : This study was designed to protect effect on atherosclerosis through regulation of low density lipoprotein(LDL) by 70 % ethanol extract Ganoderma lucidum (GL) in LDL receptor knockout mouse (LDLr ko mice) fed Western diet.Methods : The LDLr ko mice were divided into 3 groups ; Control, GL100, and GL300. After grouping, LDLr ko mice were fed Western diet. The GL (100 or 300 mg/kg body weight/day, p.o.) was administered every day for 8 weeks. The body weight and food intake were measured every day. The changes in the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatinine, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in serum were analyzed after experiment.Results : The LDLr ko mice fed Western diet were increased body weight gain and blood biochemistry parameters such as ALT, AST, TG, TC, and LDL. However GL300 group significantly reduced the body weight. Also TG, TC, and LDL level did not increase. The levels of ALT, AST, HDL were not changed. Also, LDLr ko mice model liver were observed lipid drop, but GL groups did not appear. Futhermore, histological analysis of GL groups aorta tissue were similar to NOR groups.Conclusions : We confirmed that whether GL administration is protect atherosclerosis or not. As the results, blood biochemistry and histological analysis did not changed much in GL administration groups. This study provides scientific evidence that GL protect the atherosclerosis through the reduction of LDL cholesterol. Therefore GL has potential medicine inhibition of atherosclerosis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.104-113
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• 1988

Effect of the purified ginsenoside $-Rb_1$ and $-Rb_2$ on LDL receptor biosynthesis of CHO cell cultured in a high cholesterol medium was investigated . Cholesterol uptake by CHO cell cultured in a medium containing various amounts of cholesterol was traced and found that the cholesterol uptake was proportional to the concentration of cholesterol in the medium, and the population of LDL receptors were proportionally decreased as the increasing cholesterol level in the cell. However, when the CHO cells were cultured in the medium containing ginsenosides, no significant decrease of LDL receptor population occured. The biosynthesis of protein and RNA of the above cells was higher than that of CHO cells cultured in the absence of the ginsenosides, suggesting that the ginsenosides might stimulate LDL receptor bio-synthesis. It was also observed that the ginsenosides stimulated the biosynthesis of estradiol and progesterone from cholesterol in the CHO cell. From the above results, it seemed that the ginsenosides lowers the cholesterol level by stimulating the cholesterol metablism including steroid hormone biosynthesis, resulting in the lowering of inhibitory action of cholesterol on LDL receptor biosynthesis.