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. 2015 Oct;52(10):6703-10.
doi: 10.1007/s13197-015-1775-6. Epub 2015 Mar 5.

Evaluation of hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of astaxanthin and astaxanthin esters from microalga-Haematococcus pluvialis

A Ranga Rao  1 , R Sarada  2 , M D Shylaja  3 , G A Ravishankar  4
Affiliations

Evaluation of hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of astaxanthin and astaxanthin esters from microalga-Haematococcus pluvialis

A Ranga Rao et al. J Food Sci Technol. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Effect of isolated astaxanthin (ASX) and astaxanthin esters (ASXEs) from green microalga-Haematococcus pluvialis on hepatotoxicity and antioxidant activity against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced toxicity in rats was compared with synthetic astaxanthin (SASX). ASX, ASXEs, and SASX, all dissolved in olive oil, fed to rats with 100 and 250 μg/kg b.w for 14 days. They were evaluated for their hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity by measuring appropriate enzymes. Among the treated groups, the SGPT, SGOT and ALP levels were decreased by 2, 2.4, and 1.5 fold in ASXEs treated group at 250 μg/Kg b.w. when compared to toxin group. Further, antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione, superoxide dismutase and lipid peroxidase levels were estimated in treated groups, their levels were reduced by 30-50 % in the toxin group, however these levels restored by 136.95 and 238.48 % in ASXEs treated group at 250 μg/kg. The lipid peroxidation was restored by 5.2 and 2.8 fold in ASXEs and ASX treated groups at 250 μg/kg. The total protein, albumin and bilirubin contents were decreased in toxin group, whereas normalized in ASXEs treated group. These results indicates that ASX and ASXEs have better hepatoprotection and antioxidant activity, therefore can be used in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications and also extended to use as food colorant.

Keywords: ASX; ASXEs; Antioxidants; CCl4; H. pluvialis; Hepatoprotection; SGPT, SGOT, ALP.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profile of standard astaxanthin (a) and isolated astaxanthin (b) from H. pluvialis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Influence of ASX, ASXEs and SASX administration on serum parameters in carbon tetrachloride treated rats. ASX, ASXEs and SASX treated for 14 days, followed by CCl4 treatment, and sacrifice 24 h later. Each value represents the average of mean ± SD (n = 6), **P < 0.001 compared to toxin treated group. *μg/kg b.w; body weight; SGPT, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase; SGOT, serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase; ALP, alkaline phosphatases; toxin, carbon tetrachloride; ASX, astaxanthin, ASXEs, astaxanthin esters; SASX, synthetic astxanthin
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Influence of ASX, ASXEs and SASX administration on protein, albumin and bilirubin in carbon tetrachloride treated rats. ASX, ASXEs and SASX treated for 14 days, followed by CCl4 treatment, and sacrifice 24 h later. *μg/kg b.w, each value represents the mean ± SD (n = 6), **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 compared to toxin treated group. *μg/kg b.w, body weight; toxin, carbon tetrachloride; ASX, astaxanthin, ASXEs, astaxanthin esters; SASX, synthetic astxanthin
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Histopathological observation of liver of different treated groups (60x). Section through the liver of normal rats showing central vein and hepatocytes (a), section through the liver of CCl4-treated rats showing central vein and hepatocytes (b) and section through the liver of ASX, ASXEs (250 μg/kg b.w) treated rats (c and d) showing the central vein (round marking) and hepatocytes
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