Different Effects of Tofu (Soybean Curd) and Fish Oil in Serum Lipoproteins and Hepatic Gene Expressions of Rats

Soybean and fish contains various active components that were reported to prevent cardiovasucular diseases. Epidemiological studies indicated that Asian eating patterns, consisting of daily seafood and/or soy consumption, confer protection against cardiovascular diseases. In this context, we expected that simultaneous intake of soybean and fish may be greatly beneficial in a manner different from the ingestion of the individual food. To understand the detailed mechanism for modulating the lipid metabolism by co-ingestion of a soy food (tofu) and fish oil, we investigated the global changes in hepatic mRNA expression in rats by using a microarray analysis. Generally, ingestion of tofu contributed to prevent the mRNA expressions involved in hepatic lipogenesis, whereas fish oil facilitated the mRNA expressions related to the degradation of hepatic fatty acids. In terms of mRNA expression, the interaction of two dietary factors was limited. The expression data was normalized and summarized by using SuperNORM data service (Skylight Biotech Inc.). Significance of expressional change among groups was tested by 2-way ANOVA on the normalized CEL data, which was deposited in a tab-separated ASCII text format. Principal components were identified on the summarized gene data.

20