Objective: To examine the effect of two Chinese liquors with quite different nonalcoholic components on insulin sensitivity, tissue polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and hepatic lipid metabolism in SD rats.
Methods: Thirty-three SD rats were randomized into four groups and maintained in each treatment for 10 weeks: Chinese tea-flavor liquor (TFL, n=9), traditional Chinese liquor (TCL, n=8), ethanol control (EC, n=8), and water control (WC, n=8).
Results: TFL significantly decreased plasma insulin (P=0.009) and marginally decreased Homeostatic Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) (P=0.05), compared with WC. Hepatic total and n-6 PUFA compositions were significantly decreased in TFL, TCL, and EC groups compared with WC group (P<0.05). TFL significantly increased kidney n-6 PUFA (P=0.05) and total PUFA (P=0.039), compared with EC group. EC group showed significant higher gene expressions of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and steroid response element-binding protein (1c and 2), while there were no significant differences of these gene expressions in TFL or TCL group compared with WC.
Conclusions: TFL has a beneficial effect on metabolic disorder in relation to improved circulating insulin levels without affecting hepatic lipid metabolism-related gene expressions in rats.