Supplementary material from "Synergistic effect of eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched phospholipids and sea cucumber saponin on orotic acid-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats"

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming an increasingly prevalent chronic liver disease all over the world. The present study was undertaken to explore the synergistic effects of sea cucumber saponins (SCS) and eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched phospholipids (EPA-PL) in the ratio of 0.5 : 0.5 and 1 : 1 on NAFLD and demonstrate possible protective mechanisms. That the combination of EPA-PL and SCS at half dose exhibited better effects than EPA-PL or SCS alone and the combination of EPA-PL and SCS at full dose in alleviating OA-induced symptoms including growth parameters, serum parameters and liver function. Further mechanism evaluation illustrated that EPA-PL and SCS combination at the ratio of 0.5 : 0.5 could markedly reduce the mRNA expressions of fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme genes and significantly increase the relevant gene expression about fatty acid β-oxidation including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor and its target genes (CPT1, CPT2 and ACOX1), suggesting that the protection of EPA-PL and SCS combination at the ratio of 0.5 : 0.5 against OA-induced NAFLD might be mainly via lipogenesis inhibition and β-oxidation enhancement in the liver. The synergistic effects of EPA-PL and SCS make it possible to reduce the doses of EPA-PL or SCS to avoid side effects, which provide a value to develop dietary supplements or functional foods in preventing or treating NAFLD.