EXPRESSION OF AQUAPORIN 1, 4, 8 AND 9 IN THE LIVER OF RATS FED WITH THE STANDARD DIET AND SUPPLEMENTED WITH DRIED SEA-BUCKTHORN LEAVES (HIPPOPHAE RHAMNOIDES L.). A PILOT STUDY

Katarzyna Michałek

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a diet supplemented with Hippophae rhamnoides L. on the expression of AQP1, AQP4, AQP8 and AQP9 in the liver. The study was carried out on 8 male Wistar rats. Both control (n = 3) and experimental (n = 5) groups were fed ab libitum with a standard diet. The diet of the experimental animals was supplemented with dried sea buckthorn leaves. The rats were sacrificed after 14 days, which included a 7-day introductory period for acclimatization and habituation to diets, and 7 days of the actual experimental period. Western blot technique was used to analyze aquaporin expression in liver homogenates. It was found that the expression of AQP8 and AQP9 was higher than that of AQP1 and AQP4 in all animals tested. The present study found no statistically significant differences in the expression of individual AQPs between the control and experimental groups.