Abstract: Objective: To investigate the antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects of capsanthin and capsaicin extracted from hot peppers in hyperlipidemic mice. Methods: Mice were fed a high-fat diet for 28 days to induce hyperlipemia. During this period, the mice were administered orally with either capsanthin or capsaicin at different doses. To evaluate the antioxidant effect, the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver homogenate were determined. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were measured to evaluate the hypolipidemic effect. Results: Compared with the hyperlipidemia model group, the body mass of mice in the capsanthin and capsaicin treatment groups decreased significantly (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05); the activities of GSH-Px, SOD and CAT significantly increased and the MDA content decreased (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Moreover, serum TG, TC and LDL-C levels in the capsanthin and capsaicin treatment groups were lower than those in the hyperlipidemia model group (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), while the reverse was observed for serum HDL-C levels (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Conclusion: Capsanthin and capsaicin have antioxidant and hypolipidemic effects in vivo.

Key words: capsanthin; capsaicin; antioxidant; hypolipidemic