Antioxidant Enzyme Activity in Rat Liver and Kidney Related to Coix Intake

The effects of dietary Coix(lacryma-jobi) water extract on the antioxidant enzyme activity in the liver and kidney of Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Forty-five rats were fed for 3 weeks with either control diet or experimental diets that contain either Coix water extract or Coix water residue. Twenty percent of the carbohydrate was replaced with Coix water residue by dry weight in the water residue diet, while distilled water was replaced by Coix water extract to make a pellet-form diet in the Coix water extract diet. The levels of glutathione, glutathione-peroxidase, and glutathione-S-transferase activities in liver and kidney were measured . It has been found that glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione-S-transferase enzyme activities from activities from liver and kidneyof the rats were enhanced in the group fed with Coix water extract.