EFFECT OF OLIVE OIL INTAKE ON CHOLESTEROL METABOLISM: ANALYZING HEPATOCYTES FROM HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIC RABBITS

FUNES ABI; ROMERO ANGELICA; SIMON, LAYLA; JAKOVCEVIC DAIANA; YAPUR MARTIN.; PRATICI, CARLA; BOARELLI PAOLA VANINA; SAEZ LANCELLOTTI TANIA ESTEFANÍA; FORNES MIGUEL

Congreso; Reunión científica anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo.; 2012

Olive oil (OO), the principal fat of Mediterranean Diet, is known to be nef it hypercholesterolemia (HC), a recognized risk factor of cardiovascular desease. Hypercholesterolemic rabbits (HCR) obtained by fat-enriched diet (14% v/w) carry several disorders. Were port the study of hepatic tissue – the organ that regulates serum cholesterol – from male New Zeland HCR protected by the addition OO (7% v/w) obtained from specific olive varieties to diet. Under optic and electronicmicroscopy, hepatocytes from HCR showed big vesicles of lipids without a loss of organelles, with normal nucleus. These cellular defects decrease considerably with virgin OO incorporation to diet. The molecular mechanism involved in the intracellular pathway of cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolismal so showed alterations in HC diet that were reversed by OO supplementation. Specifically, a transcription factor, SREBP, changed its expression (RNAm and protein) depending on the type of fat consumed, showing a putative molecular mechanism for OO protection.