Abstract: Silkworm pupae oil extracted from the waste after silk reeling by supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction, which was found to contain 68% of unsaturated fatty acids, was administered intragastrically to normal rats and high fat model rats for 6 successive weeks and then fasted for 12 h after the last administration. The levels of hepatic total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of related lipases such as lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and hepatic lipase (HL) were measured to clarify the effect of silkworm pupae oil on hepatic lipid metabolism and related lipase activity in rats. The results showed that silkworm pupae oil could significantly reduce the levels of hepatic TC and TG, increase HDL-C level, decrease atherosclerotic index and MDA level, and notably improve the activities of LPL and HL. It could be concluded from these results that silkworm pupae oil is capable of regulating lipid metabolism and decreasing blood lipid in rats.

Key words: silkworm pupal oil, liver, total cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, lipid metabolism