Dietary curcuminoids prevent high-fat diet-induced lipid accumulation in rat liver and epididymal adipose tissue

Curcumin and its structurally related compounds (curcuminoids), the phenoli c yellowish pigments of turmeric, display antioxidative, anticarcinogenic a nd hypocholesterolemic activities. In this study, we investigated the effec ts of dietary supplemented curcuminoids [commercial grade curcumin: a mixtu re of curcumin (73.4%), demethoxycurcumin (16.1%) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (10.5%)] on lipid metabolism in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigne d to three diet groups (n = 6) and fed a moderately high-fat diet (15 g soy bean oil/100 g diet) for 2 wk. One diet group did not receive supplements ( CONT), while the others were supplemented with 0.2 g curcuminoids/100 g die t (CUR0.2) or 1.0 g curcuminoids/100 g diet (CURI.0). Liver triacylglycerol and cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower in CUR1.0 rats tha n in CONT rats. Plasma triacylglycerols in the VLDL fraction were also lowe r in CUR1.0 rats than in CONT rats (P < 0.05). Hepatic acyl-CoA oxidase act ivity of both the CUR0.2 and CUR1.0 rats was significantly higher than that of CONT rats. Furthermore, epididymal adipose tissue weight was significan tly reduced with curcuminoid intake in a dose-dependent manner. These resul ts indicate that dietary curcuminoids have lipid-lowering potency in vivo, probably due to alterations in fatty acid metabolism.