Effects of chitosan, O-carboxymethyl chitosan and N-[(2-hydroxy-3-N,N-dimethylhexadecyl ammonium)propyl]chitosan chloride on lipid metabolism enzymes and low-density-lipoprotein receptor in a murine diet-induced obesity

O-carboxymethyl chitosan (O-CM-chitosan) and N-[(2-hydroxy-3-N,N-dimethylhexadecyl ammonium)propyl]chitosan chloride (N-CQ-chitosan) were prepared, and the therapeutic effect of them and chitosan in hepatocyte were simultaneously evaluated. The parameters of high-fat diet-induced rats in vivo indicated that chitosan and its two derivatives not only have low cytotoxicity but can alleviate the hepatic fat accumulation. Furthermore, results of the mRNA expression assay showed that chitosan of 10 kDa elevated HMG-CoA, hepatic lipase (HL), lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and low-density-lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) by 402%, 177%, 427% and 56%, and N-CQ-chitosan which was synthesized by chitosan of 50 kDa increased HMG-CoA, HL, LCAT and LDL-R by 543%, 162%, 122% and 2% respectively. It was concluded that the mRNA expression of hepatic lipid metabolism enzymes and LDL-R was positively associated with chitosan and its two derivatives, but the therapeutic degree varied by the molecular weight and surface charge of chitosan, O-CM-chitosan and N-CQ-chitosan.