Optimization enzymatic degradation of chitosan into amphiphilic chitooligosaccharides for application in mitigating liver steatosis and cholesterol regulation

In our endeavor targeting enhancement of the biological activities (anti-cholesterol, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective) of chitosan; novel amphiphilic chitooligosaccharides (ACOSs) were synthesized by the enzymatic degradation of shrimp chitosan in aqueous ionic liquid to obtain COS followed by quaternization with Glycidylammonium chlorides (GAC). The capacity of COS architectures to dominate cholesterol accumulation in the liver and mitigate its consequences (steatosis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)) were in vivo investigated in rats. Our results revealed a significant reduction in the HDL level and antioxidant parameters SOD and GSH accompanied with unregulated inflammatory factor TNF-α and RBP-4 in the rats group induced by CCl4 and the AST/ALT ratio was 0.67. Interestingly, treatment with COS architectures showed significant amelioration in the antioxidant parameters, increased level of HDL, while decreased cholesterol and triglycerides in the hepatocytes (P < 0.01); overall ameliorate hepatocytes architecture. Moreover, they can significantly diminish the inflammatory factor TNF-α, LDL, and TG content in the liver homogenates of the rats (P < 0.05).