Vet World   Vol.15   April-2022  Article-24

Research Article

Veterinary World, 15(4): 986-997

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.986-997

The first study on the effect of crocodile oil from Crocodylus siamensis on hepatic mitochondrial function for energy homeostasis in rats

Kongphop Parunyakul1, Krittika Srisuksai1, Pitchaya Santativongchai2, Urai Pongchairerk3, Sumate Ampawong4, Phitsanu Tulayakul5, and Wirasak Fungfuang1
1. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
2. Bio-Veterinary Sciences (International Program), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
3. Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
4. Department of Tropical Pathology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
5. Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

Background and Aim: Consumption of fatty acids (FA) can alter hepatic energy metabolism and mitochondrial function in the liver. Crocodile oil (CO) is rich in mono-and polyunsaturated FAs, which have natural anti-inflammatory and healing properties. In rat livers, we investigated the effect of CO on mitochondrial function for energy homeostasis.

Materials and Methods: Twenty-one male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups at random. Group 1 rats were given sterile water (RO), Group 2 rats were given CO (3% v/w), and Group 3 rats were given palm oil (PO) (3% v/w). For 7 weeks, rats were given sterile water, CO, and PO orally. The researchers looked at body weight, food intake, liver weight, energy intake, blood lipid profiles, and mitochondria-targeted metabolites in the liver. The liver's histopathology, mitochondrial architecture, and hydrolase domain containing 3 (HDHD3) protein expression in liver mitochondria were studied.

Results: Body weight, liver weight, liver index, dietary energy intake, and serum lipid profiles were all unaffected by CO treatment. The CO group consumed significantly less food than the RO group. The CO group also had significantly higher levels of oxaloacetate and malate than the PO group. CO treatment significantly ameliorated hepatic steatosis, as evidenced by a greater decrease in the total surface area of lipid particles than PO treatment. CO administration preserved mitochondrial morphology in the liver by upregulating the energetic maintenance protein HDHD3. Furthermore, chemical-protein interactions revealed that HDHD3 was linked to the energy homeostatic pathway.

Conclusion: CO may benefit liver function by preserving hepatic mitochondrial architecture and increasing energy metabolic activity. Keywords: crocodile oil, energy metabolism, liver, mitochondria, rat.

Keywords: crocodile oil, energy metabolism, liver, mitochondria, rat.

How to cite this article: Parunyakul K, Srisuksai K, Santativongchai P, Pongchairerk U, Ampawong S, Tulayakul P, Fungfuang W (2022) The first study on the effect of crocodile oil from Crocodylus siamensis on hepatic mitochondrial function for energy homeostasis in rats, Veterinary World, 15(4): 986-997.

Received: 14-01-2022  Accepted: 11-03-2022     Published online: 19-04-2022

Corresponding author: Wirasak Fungfuang   E-mail: fsciwsf@ku.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.986-997

Copyright: Parunyakul, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.