Ameliorative Effects of Fermented Passion Fruit Peel Supplementation on High-Fat Diet-Induced Hepatic Dysfunction in Mice

This study evaluated the effects of supplementing a mildly high-fat diet (HFD; 33.5% energy from lipids) with fermented passion fruit peel powder (FPFPP) on mice liver physiological chracteristics. Mice were fed HFD supplemented with FPFPP at three ratios of 0.5% (T-0.5 group), 1% (T-1 group), and 2.5% (T-2.5 group) for 30 days and compared with normal-diet control and an unsupplemented HFD group. The results showed that FPFPP supplementation induced an attenuation of weight gain in mice. Serum lipid profiles demonstrated the decrease in total serum cholesterol, and LDL-c in mice from T-1 and T-2.5 groups compared to HFD group, while there was no difference in HDL-c level in mice from these groups. FPFPP supplementation could retrieve several normal characteristics in the histological architecture and the expression of apoptosis and cell cycle-related proteins in mice liver. These results suggested that fermented passion fruit peel supplementation attenuates high-fat diet-induced hepatic dysfunction via modulation of lipid metabolism and apoptotic signaling in mice.