Table 1.
Diet compositions (g ingredient/kg diet) in the experimental groups.
Table 2.
Percentage of soy isoflavones in SOY and FSOY1.
Figure 1.
Food intake and lipid profiles of rats fed SOY or FSOY as opposed to CHOL.
Food intake (A), total cholesterol intake (B), serum levels of TOTAL-CHOL (C), LDL-CHOL (D), and HDL-CHOL (E), atherogenic index (F), serum levels of TG (G) and free fatty acids (H), hepatic TOTAL-CHOL (I), hepatic TG (J), fecal TOTAL-CHOL (K), and fecal bile acid (L) in each animal group. The results are expressed as means ± SD of eight animal tissues in each group. Values not sharing the same letter were significantly different (P<0.05) between all groups by ANOVA.
Figure 2.
Hepatic expression levels of genes involved in cholesterol and TG metabolism in rats on SOY or FSOY diet compared with CHOL diet.
Expression levels of SREBP-2 mRNA (A), nuclear form of SREBP-2 protein (B and C), HMGCR mRNA (D), LDLR protein (E), SREBP-1c mRNA (F), premature and nuclear forms of SREBP proteins (pre-SREBP and nSREBP)(G and H), FAS mRNA (I), and SCD1 mRNA (J). Representative band images indicating protein levels for SREBP-2 (B), SREBP-1c (G), and LDLR (E) are presented. Bands were quantified, normalized, and presented as a graph (C, D, and F). The results are expressed as means ± SE of eight animal tissue samples. Values not sharing the same letter were significantly different (P<0.05) between all groups by ANOVA.
Figure 3.
Adipose expression levels of genes related to lipoprotein uptake and fatty acid oxidation in SOY and FSOY groups compared to CTRL and CHOL groups.
mRNA levels of ApoE (A), VLDLR (B), Lrp1 (C), UCP2 (D), UCP3 (E), PPARα (F), CPT1α (G) ACOX1 (H), LCAD (I) and CYP4A1 (J) in rats fed experimental diets. The results are expressed as means ± SE of eight animal tissues. Values not sharing the same letter were significantly different (P<0.05) between all groups by ANOVA.
Figure 4.
The effects of SOY or FSOY on the mRNA levels of genes involved in reverse cholesterol transport in rats on a high cholesterol diet.
Adipose mRNAs of ApoA1 (A), ABCA1 (B), LXRα (C), and PPARγ (D) in rats fed experimental diets. The results are expressed as means ± SE of eight animal tissues. Values not sharing the same letter were significantly different (P<0.05) between all groups by ANOVA.
Figure 5.
The effects of SOY or FSOY on mRNA levels of adiponectin and adiponectin receptors, and on AMPK activation.
Hepatic and adipose levels of phosphorylated AMPK (A and B) and phosphorylated ACC (C and D), fat adiponectin mRNA (E) and protein (F), and mRNA levels of adiponectin receptor 1 (G) and adiponectin receptor 2 (H). The results are expressed as means ± SE of eight animal tissues. Values not sharing the same letter were significantly different (P<0.05) between all groups by ANOVA, and Student’s t-test was performed to compare the hepatic and adipose protein levels of p-ACC between the CHOL and FSOY groups.
Figure 6.
Proposed model of the beneficial effects of fermented soy on lipid profiles and related gene expression in the liver and adipose tissues of rats on a high cholesterol diet.