| Summary: | 碩士 === 靜宜大學 === 食品營養學系 === 88 === Folic acid, a water-soluble vitamin, is essential for growth, reproduction, and maintenance of normal body function. It is involved in one-carbon transferation to convert serine to glycine and homocysteine to methionine. High plasma homocysteine level is considered as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have indicated that depression patients had low plasma folate level. Whether folate deficiency may affect behavior, it is need to be explored. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to investigate the differences between folate deficient group and control group in Spraque-Dawley rats in plasma homocysteine, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), S-adenosylhomo- cysteine (SAH) and blood lipids. In addition, the changes of folate deficient group in aorta endothelium wall and behavior were observed.
Eight weeks old Spraque-Dawley rats were fed an AIN-93G diet with 0 or 13.5μmol folic acid/kg diet for 9 weeks, while the rats in the folate deficient group were fed folate-free diet. To inhibit the production of folate from microorganism in GI tract, 1% succinylsulfa- thiazole was added to the folate deficient diet. Food intook, food spilled, water consumed and stool produced were recorded daily and weight gain was recorded twice a week. The distance, locomotion and movements were assessed before sacrificed by using the activity monitor video path analyzer to evaluate behavioral changes between two groups. Sacrifices were done in 0, 3, 6, 9 week, and blood folate, homocysteine, SAM, SAH and lipids levels were measured. In addition, using the scanning electron microscope to observe the injury of aorta endothelium wall was done in 6, 12 week.
The results indicated that after 9 weeks folate deficient diet caused less water intake and in the 9 week more stool excretion (P<0.05), but there were no differences in weight gains. However, in behavior, food spilled and movement in the 9 week showed significant increase (P<0.05). Serum folate gradually decreased by longer feeding (3 wk: 6.08±0.33, 6 wk: 3.05±0.60, 9 wk: 1.62 ±0.41 ng/mL) and reached folate deficiency status. On the opposite, homocysteine significant increased by longer feeding (3 wk: 1.90±2.08, 6 wk: 16.65±3.76, 9 wk: 19.99± 2.04μmol /L)(P<0.05). There were no differences in SAM and SAH level. In lipids, HDL in 3, 9 week and LDL in 3, 6 week were reduced significantly, when compared to control group (P<0.05). In addition, folate deficient group had more injured in aorta endothelium and more blood cell adhered to vascular wall.
In conclusion, fed folate deficient diet to Spraque-Dawley rats, caused higher homocysteine level, but lower LDL, HDL level. There were serious injury in the endothelium and unusual behavior.
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