Consumption of Chinese Tea-Flavor Liquor Improves Circulating Insulin Levels without Affecting Hepatic Lipid Metabolism-Related Gene Expression in Sprague-Dawley Rats

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.