Maternal supplementation with n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids during perinatal period alleviates the metabolic syndrome disturbances in adult hamster pups fed a high-fat diet after weaning

Perinatal nutrition is thought to affect the long-term risk of the adult to develop metabolic syndrome. We hypothesized that maternal supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid during pregnancy and lactation would protect offspring fed a high-fat diet from developing metabolic disturbances. Thus, two groups of female hamsters were fed a low-fat control diet, either alone (LC) or enriched with n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) (LO), through the gestational and lactation periods. After weaning, male pups were randomized to separate groups that received either a control low-fat diet (LC) or a high-fat diet (HC) for 16 weeks. Four groups of pups were defined (LC-LC, LC-HC, LO-LC and LO-HC), based on the combinations of maternal and weaned diets. Maternal n-3 LC-PUFA supplementation was associated with reduced levels of basal plasma glucose, hepatic triglycerides secretion and postprandial lipemia in the LO-HC group compared to the LC-HC group. Respiratory parameters were not affected by maternal supplementation. In contrast, n-3 LC-PUFA supplementation significantly enhanced the activities of citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase compared to the offspring of unsupplemented mothers. Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c, diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2, fatty acid synthase, stearoyl CoA desaturase 1 and tumor necrosis factor α expression levels were not affected by n-3 LC-PUFA supplementation. These results provide evidence for a beneficial effect of n-3 LC-PUFA maternal supplementation in hamsters on the subsequent risk of metabolic syndrome. Underlying mechanisms may include improved lipid metabolism and activation of the mitochondrial oxidative pathway

Computational Lipidology: Predicting Lipoprotein Density Profiles in Human Blood Plasma

Monitoring cholesterol levels is strongly recommended to identify patients at risk for myocardial infarction. However, clinical markers beyond “bad” and “good” cholesterol are needed to precisely predict individual lipid disorders. Our work contributes to this aim by bringing together experiment and theory. We developed a novel computer-based model of the human plasma lipoprotein metabolism in order to simulate the blood lipid levels in high resolution. Instead of focusing on a few conventionally used predefined lipoprotein density classes (LDL, HDL), we consider the entire protein and lipid composition spectrum of individual lipoprotein complexes. Subsequently, their distribution over density (which equals the lipoprotein profile) is calculated. As our main results, we (i) successfully reproduced clinically measured lipoprotein profiles of healthy subjects; (ii) assigned lipoproteins to narrow density classes, named high-resolution density sub-fractions (hrDS), revealing heterogeneous lipoprotein distributions within the major lipoprotein classes; and (iii) present model-based predictions of changes in the lipoprotein distribution elicited by disorders in underlying molecular processes. In its present state, the model offers a platform for many future applications aimed at understanding the reasons for inter-individual variability, identifying new sub-fractions of potential clinical relevance and a patient-oriented diagnosis of the potential molecular causes for individual dyslipidemia

Spirulina liquid extract prevents glucose intolerance and NAFLD in mouse

International audienc

Spirulina liquid extract prevents glucose intolerance and NAFLD in mouse

International audienc

Impact d’une restriction protéique périnatale dans un modèle rongeur (rate) sur la production de lait maternel à l’aide de la méthode d’enrichissement isotopique à l’eau deutérée

National audienc

The effects of ginkgo biloba leaf extract on metabolic disturbances associated to alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract (GBE) considered one of the most effective therapeutic herbs. We evaluated anti-diabetic activities of GBE in rats. Rats were fed highly-fat diet for two weeks and divided into three groups (n=8): Non-diabetic control group (CG), Diabetic group (DG), Diabetic+100mg/kg GBE group (D+GBE). On 14th day, the rats were kept in overnight-fasting and administered single intra-peritoneal injection of alloxan-monohydrate (120-130mg/Kg body weight (BW). BW and blood glucose were measured weekly up to 14th week. Fasting/basal blood samples were collected for the biochemical analyses. Liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue were also collected for mRNA gene expressions (GLUT4, IRS-1, IR, PEPCK, SREBP-1c, FAS, PPAR-alpha, PPAR-gamma, TNF-alpha). Significant reduction in BW was found in D+GBE group at week 14. Glycemia became normalized as an effect of treatment. GBE significantly decreased serum glucose, urea and ALT concentrations. We observed significant higher catalase and lower malondialdehyde levels in D+GBE group. GBE significantly increased HDL-Cholesterol and reduced triglycerides and VLDL-Triglycerides levels. GBE showed up-regulation for hepatic IRS-1 and down-regulation for PEPCK, however, up-regulation for GLUT-4 and PPAR-alpha found in muscle. Treatment decreased TNF-alpha expression in liver and adipose tissue. GBE has anti-diabetic mediated by a modulating effect on involved key genes