Search results

The hypocholesterolemic activity of legume vicilins and the structural homology among mung bean, soybean and adzuki bean vicilins (8S) suggest that this protein may play a role in lipid metabolism. Thus, in the present study, the authors aim to isolate the mung bean vicilin and assess its in vitro effect on 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG CoAr), the enzyme responsible for endogenous cholesterol synthesis.

Chromatographic and electrophoretic characterization identified the molecular mass and polypeptide composition of mung bean vicilin. The hydrolysate of this globulin was obtained by sequential hydrolysis with pepsin-pancreatin and the fragments were characterized by molecular filtration, SDS PAGE and HPLC.

The molecular mass of vicilin was estimated as 158.23 at ± 10 kDa and SDS-PAGE revealed that the 8S globulin protein comprises four bands corresponding to polypeptides of 61, 48, 29 and 26 kDa. Fractions 10, 12, 14, 22 and 32 of the eluate from Sephadex G-25 exhibited significant inhibition of HMG CoAr.

The correspondence of the chromatographic profile of the peptide fractions with hypocholesterolemic activity suggests that the composition and chemical structure of these peptides are essential to their physiological effectiveness. The beneficial effects of mung bean vicilin identified in this study will support the characterization of this protein as a functional compound.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of isolated soy glycinin (11S) on lipid metabolism in animals subjected to a hypercholesterolemic diet.

Male Wistar rats were kept in individual cages under appropriate conditions. The animals were divided into three groups (n=9): normal diet (STD) given a diet containing casein as protein source, recommended in AIN‐93M; hypercholesterolemic (HC) fed a normal diet with 1 per cent cholesterol and 0.5 per cent cholic acid; and hypercholesterolemic+glycinin (HC+11S), fed a hypercholesterolemic diet, plus 11S soy protein (300 mg/kg/day), dissolved in saline and administered by gavage. After 28 days, the animals were sacrificed and blood and liver removed for biochemical analysis of total cholesterol (TC), HDL‐cholesterol (HDL‐C) and triglycerides (TG) in the plasma, hepatic TC and TG.

A single daily dose of glycinin given to the hypercholesterolemic group demonstrated its functional role, particularly in raising HDL‐C and reducing triglycerides in the liver.

This study demonstrates the action of the 11S globulin in soybean as a serum lipid lowering agent, in addition to its nutritional properties, especially in raising the HDL‐C.