The
metabolic syndrome is increasingly prevalent in worldwide. The quality and quantity of dietary
lipids could be important modulators associated with the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. At present, functional
lipids such as
conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and
phospholipids have attracted considerable attention because of their beneficial
biological effects in attenuating
metabolic syndrome. Supplementation of CLA reduces abdominal white adipose tissues, serum
triacylglycerol (TAG) level, and liver TAG level in obese Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty OLETF rats. These effects were attributed to enhanced
fatty acid beta-oxidation and suppressed
fatty acid synthesis in the liver. In addition, CLA enhanced energy expenditure in these rats.
Anti-hypertensive properties of CLA have also been demonstrated. In obese/diabetic OLETF and Zucker rats, feeding of CLA prevented the development of
obesity-induced
hypertension. This was associated with an altered production of physiologically active
adipocytokines, such as
adiponectin,
leptin and
angiotensinogen. In addition, CLA could alleviate the development of
insulin resistance and
fatty liver. Dietary
phospholipids have physiological functions that are different to dietary TAG. We recently reported that
phosphatidylcholine (PC) alleviated
orotic acid-induced
fatty-liver through the suppression of hepatic lipogenesis in rats, and omega 3-PC from salmon roe prevented the development of
obesity-related diseases through the suppression of lipogenic gene expressions and the enhancement of lypolytic gene expressions in the liver of obese rats. However, reports which studying the nutritional functions of minor
phospholipids, such as
phosphatidylinositol (PI), are scarce. Our study indicated that dietary PI lowered
lipids in the plasma and liver by suppressing hepatic TAG synthesis.