Development of assay system to search for food substances which prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease considering intestinal absorption

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K07796
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Food science
• Research Institution: Maebashi Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: SATSU Hideo 前橋工科大学, 工学部, 准教授 (80323484)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: NAFLD / HepG2 / Caco-2 / coculture / phytochemical

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to develop in vitro assessment system to search for food components which could prevent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) after intestinal absorption and also analyze the identified functional food components. Human hepatic HepG2 cells were cultured with the medium containing fatty acid Mix (palmitic acid and oleic acid) and fructose, respectively. Consequently, incubation of HepG2 cells with fatty acid Mix or fructose resulted in the formation of intracellular lipid droplets and also accumulation of intracellular triglyceride. Next we examined the effect of several kinds of herbal extracts from Myanmar on fatty acid Mix-induced lipid droplets. We found that two kinds of Myanmar-derived herbal extracts significantly suppressed the formation of intracellular lipid droplets by fatty acid Mix.

Free Research Field

食品機能学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では近年患者数の増加がみられる非アルコール性脂肪肝（NAFLD）の動物培養細胞を用いたin vitroモデル系を構築した。構築した評価系を用いることで、NAFLDへの予防が期待される食品成分など機能性成分を簡便にかつ幅広く探索することが可能となった。さらに腸管上皮モデルCaco-2細胞との共培養系を用いることで、機能性成分の腸管吸収をも考慮した評価系への応用にも成功した。また本研究でNAFLD予防作用が期待される機能性成分が見出された場合、構築したin vitroモデル系を用いてその作用メカニズムを分子・遺伝子レベルで解析することが可能となった。