Dyslipidemia is the key precursor of atherosclerotic
cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the
lipid-modifying potential of organic
solvent-partitioned extracts from fruiting bodies of Amauroderma rugosum in vitro using
oleate-induced human hepatocellular liver
carcinoma (HepG2) cells. Our results demonstrated that
oleate-induced HepG2 cells treated with
ethyl acetate (EA) extract greatly decreased intracellular and secreted total
triglyceride (TG) and total
cholesterol (TC) compared with other extracts. Further investigation of cellular expression of selected
apolipoproteins also revealed that
oleate-induced HepG2 cells treated with the EA extract best attenuated the
apolipoprotein (Apo) profile by downregulating
ApoB-100 and
ApoE while upregulating ApoA1. Because both
ApoB-100 and
ApoE are key components of
low-density lipoprotein (
LDL) and very
LDL (VLDL), which are recognized as "bad
cholesterol," this result indicates that treatment with the EA extract inhibited
LDL and VLDL production in
oleate-induced HepG2 cells. On the other hand, increasing ApoA1 evidence shows antiatherogenic benefits to increasing ApoA1, the key component of
high-density lipoprotein (HDL), particularly in relation to its role in promoting reverse
cholesterol transport and preventing
LDL oxidation; this indicates that the EA extract upregulated the production of HDL ("good
cholesterol"). Hence, the EA extract is a good source of
lipid-ameliorating agents in the management of
dyslipidemia.