(The FASEB Journal. 2007;21:lb290)
© 2007 FASEB
EFFECT OF AFRICAN MELON SEED ON EXPRESSION OF APOLIPOPROTEIN B AND MICROSOMAL TRIGLYCERIDE TRANSFER PROTEIN ENCODED GENES IN LAYING HENS
Samuel Ayuk Besong1,
Bertrand Hankoua2,
Chowda-Reddy Venkatarayappa2 and
Vincent N Fondong2,3
1 Family and Consumer Sciences,
2 Biology,
3 Biotechnology, Delaware State University, 1200 North DuPont HWY, Dover, DE, 19901
ABSTRACT
Fatty liver is a serious metabolic abnormality associated with chronic alcoholism. Several researchers have reported the hypolipidemic effect and health benefits of marine omega-3 fatty acids (OFA). The objective of our on–going study is to evaluate the effect of African Melon Oil Seeds (AMOS) on Apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), two key genes involved in assemble and secretion of hepatic very low density lipoproteins. Nutrient analysis revealed that AMOS contains 52.5% total fat, 24.9% linoleic acid, 48.6% eicosapentaenoic acid and 24.7% protein. We are using laying hens as experimental model due to their susceptibility to hepatic steatosis to evaluate the effect of AMOS on Apo B and MTP expression. In our preliminary work, nucleic acid probes were developed using RT-PCR amplified 900 bp and 700 bp partial fragments from MTP Apo B gene bank sequences, respectively. Liver samples were harvested and total RNA was extracted from birds (3 females and 3 Males) fed control layer diet. Northern blot was performed and results showed larger intensity bands of MTP transcripts from female RNA samples when compared to those of males. Based on this preliminary data we are speculating that female chickens may generate more MTP transcripts than males. Chicken apoB and MTP antibodies are currently being generated for the first time to quantify the expression of apoB and MTP protein mass in chicken liver.
