The role of purslane in modulating diverse effects of high fat diet on biochemical, histological, and molecular parameters of rats’ liver

Consuming a high-fat diet causes a harmful accumulation of fat in the liver, which may not reverse even after switching to a healthier diet. Different reports dealt with the role of purslane as an extract against high-fat diet; meanwhile, it was necessary to study the potential role of fresh purslane as a hypolipidemic agent. This study is supposed to investigate further the potential mechanism in the hypolipidemic effect of fresh purslane, by measuring cholesterol 7a-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) and low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr). Rats were divided into two main groups: the first one is the normal control group (n=7 rats) and the second group (n=28 rats) received a high fat diet for 28 weeks to induce obesity. Then the high fat diet group was divided into equal four subgroups. As, the positive control group still fed on a high fat diet only. Meanwhile, the other three groups were received high-fat diet supplemented with a different percent of fresh purslane (25, 50 and 75%) respectively. At the end of the experiment, rats were sacrificed and samples were collected for molecular, biochemical, and histological studies. Current study reported that, supplementation of fresh purslane especially at a concentration of 75% play an important role against harmful effects of high-fat diet at both cellular and organ level, by increasing CYP7A1 as well as Ldlr mRNA expression. Also, there were an improvement on the tested liver functions, thyroid hormones, and lipid profile. Fresh purslane plays the potential role as a hypolipidemic agent via modulation of both Ldlr and Cyp7A, which will point to use fresh purslane against harmful effects of obesity.

Renal Protective Effects of Inonotus obliquus on High-Fat Diet/Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Kidney Disease Rats: Biochemical, Color Doppler Ultrasound and Histopathological Evidence

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the current leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Inonotus obliquus (chaga), a medicinal fungus, has been used in treatment of diabetes. Here, we aim to identify the renal protective effects of chaga extracts on a DKD rat model which was induced by a high-fat diet and streptozotocin injection. During the total 17-weeks experiment, the biological parameters of serum and urine were examined, and the color Doppler ultrasound of renal artery, the periodic acid-Schiff staining, and electron microscopy of kidney tissue were performed. The compositions of chaga extracts were analyzed and the intervention effects of the extracts were also observed. Compared with the normal control group, the biochemical research showed that insulin resistance was developed, blood glucose and total cholesterol were elevated, urinary protein excretion and serum creatinine levels were significantly increased in the DKD model. The ultrasound examinations confirmed the deteriorated blood flow parameters of the left renal interlobar artery in the rat models. Finally, histopathological data supported renal injury on the thickened glomerular basement membrane and fusion of the foot processes. 8 weeks intervention of chaga improved the above changes significantly, and the 100 mg/kg/d chaga group experienced significant effects compared with the 50 mg/kg/d in some parameters. Our findings suggested that Doppler ultrasound examinations guided with biochemical indicators played important roles in evaluating the renal injury as an effective, noninvasive, and repeatable method in rats. Based on biochemical, ultrasound, and histopathological evidence, we confirmed that chaga had pharmacodynamic effects on diabetes-induced kidney injury and the aforementioned effects may be related to delaying the progression of DKD.

Maternal High-Fat Diet During Pre-Conception and Gestation Predisposes Adult Female Offspring to Metabolic Dysfunction in Mice

The risk of obesity in adulthood is subject to programming in the womb. Maternal obesity contributes to programming of obesity and metabolic disease risk in the adult offspring. With the increasing prevalence of obesity in women of reproductive age there is a need to understand the ramifications of maternal high-fat diet (HFD) during pregnancy on offspring’s metabolic heath trajectory. In the present study, we determined the long-term metabolic outcomes on adult male and female offspring of dams fed with HFD during pregnancy. C57BL/6J dams were fed either Ctrl or 60% Kcal HFD for 4 weeks before and throughout pregnancy, and we tested glucose homeostasis in the adult offspring. Both Ctrl and HFD-dams displayed increased weight during pregnancy, but HFD-dams gained more weight than Ctrl-dams. Litter size and offspring birthweight were not different between HFD-dams or Ctrl-dams. A significant reduction in random blood glucose was evident in newborns from HFD-dams compared to Ctrl-dams. Islet morphology and alpha-cell fraction were normal but a reduction in beta-cell fraction was observed in newborns from HFD-dams compared to Ctrl-dams. During adulthood, male offspring of HFD-dams displayed comparable glucose tolerance under normal chow. Male offspring re-challenged with HFD displayed glucose intolerance transiently. Adult female offspring of HFD-dams demonstrated normal glucose tolerance but displayed increased insulin resistance relative to controls under normal chow diet. Moreover, adult female offspring of HFD-dams displayed increased insulin secretion in response to high-glucose treatment, but beta-cell mass were comparable between groups. Together, these data show that maternal HFD at pre-conception and during gestation predisposes the female offspring to insulin resistance in adulthood.