We examined the hypolipidemic and antioxidative effects of melatonin in plasma, liver and aorta of C57BL/6J mice fed on a high cholesterol (HC) diet. Mice were fed normal mice chow containing 1.5% cholesterol and 0.5% cholic acid for 4 months with or without melatonin (10 mg/L in drinking water) treatment. HC diet was observed to increase cholesterol, triglyceride and diene conjugate (DC) levels in plasma and liver. There was a tendency towards an increase in cholesterol level in the aorta following HC diet. In addition, aortic DC levels were higher than those of control group. No fatty streaks or plaques developed in the aorta of mice following HC diet, but in some sections, derangement of the endothelial layer was detected. Melatonin treatment was found to reduce plasma, liver cholesterol and DC levels as well as liver triglyceride levels in hypercholesterolemic mice. Aortic cholesterol and DC levels were also reduced in hypercholesterolemic mice when given melatonin, although not statistically significant. There were no differences in aortic histopathological findings of mice fed on a HC diet with and without melatonin treatment. In conclusion, our results indicate that melatonin reduces HC diet-induced cholesterol accumulation and prooxidant state in the plasma, liver and probably in the aorta.

中文翻译：

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褪黑素可降低血浆，肝脏以及C57BL / 6J小鼠主动脉中高胆固醇饮食诱导的胆固醇蓄积和促氧化状态。

我们检查了褪黑激素对血浆，肝脏和高胆固醇（HC）饮食喂养的C57BL / 6J小鼠主动脉的抗氧化作用。给小鼠喂食含有1.5％胆固醇和0.5％胆酸的正常小鼠食物4个月，无论有无褪黑素（在饮用水中为10 mg / L）处理。观察到HC饮食会增加血浆和肝脏中的胆固醇，甘油三酸酯和二烯共轭（DC）水平。HC饮食后，主动脉中胆固醇水平有升高的趋势。另外，主动脉DC水平高于对照组。HC饮食后在小鼠主动脉中没有脂肪条纹或斑块，但是在某些切片中，检测到内皮层的紊乱。发现褪黑素治疗可减少血浆，高胆固醇血症小鼠的肝脏胆固醇和DC水平以及甘油三酸酯水平。当给予褪黑激素时，高胆固醇血症小鼠的主动脉胆固醇和DC水平也降低，尽管无统计学意义。用HC饮食饲喂或不服用褪黑素的小鼠的主动脉组织病理学发现无差异。总之，我们的研究结果表明褪黑素可降低HC饮食诱导的血浆，肝脏以及主动脉中胆固醇的积累和促氧化状态。