Diaz de la Garza, Rocío IsabelSerna Saldivar, Sergio O.2015-08-172015-08-172008-12-01http://hdl.handle.net/11285/569141Development of coronary heart disease due to high cholesterol levels is a major cause of death globally. This problem has been targeted by the aim in the reduction of LDL cholesterol concentrations with therapeutic treatments such as statin drugs, which are effective but expensive, and have shown to elicit side effects. Consequently, research has been focused on finding and developing natural, healthier choices. Nutrigenomics is the integration of genomic science with nutrition; this discipline helps understand the effects of diet at the molecular level. This study focused on the standardization of real-time RT-PCR protocols for analyzing gene expression changes for lipid biosynthesis in hamsters as response to diet. Specific primers were designed to evaluate genes that code for sterol regulatory element-binding proteins-1 (SREBP-1), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and 3-hydroxy-3- methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR). Hamsters were fed with diets supplemented with sorghum bran and its methanolic extract from two plant varieties (Sumac and Shawaya). Sorghum bicolor is rich in phytochemicals (flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins) which may have effects on cholesterol levels. After six-week feeding treatment, total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL plasma concentrations were measured, showing a slight increase in total cholesterol due mainly to a significant increase in HDL levels for all sorghum treatments when compared to controls. Real-time RT-PCR experiments showed that Shawaya extract diet up-regulated the gene expression of these genes, and its extract showed some effects on SREBP-1 and HMGR in a gender specific fashion. This work shows that phytochemicals from sorghum have an effect on lipid metabolism that may be related in part to the expression of biosynthetic genes. However, more investigation using a wider array of genes and enzyme activity data are needed to have a better understanding of the impact of sorghum-supplemented diet on mammals.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0Area::BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA::QUÍMICA::QUÍMICA ORGÁNICA::BIOSÍNTESISTesis de maestría