Effects of pectin supplementation on metabolic programming

Abstract

Obesity is one of the biggest health problems of today. Lifestyle interventions are not always successful, which is why alternative solutions are being sought after. Beta-carotene (BC), metformin (MET) and dermatan-sulfate (DS) are promising anti-obesity agents. We aimed to study whether lower than usually used doses of BC and MET have positive effects on obesity and related metabolic complications, as well as if their combination exerts potential synergistic effects. We also wanted to further investigate anti-obesity effects of DS. To achieve our objectives, 54 male C57BL/6 adult mice were distributed in five groups with 9 animals in each: normal fat (NF) (control), high fat (HF), beta-carotene supplemented (BC, 3 mg/kg/day), metformin supplemented (MET, 100 mg/kg/day), combination of BC and MET supplemented (BC+MET) and dermatan sulfate supplemented (DS, 30 mg/kg/day). BC, MET, BC+MET and DS groups were fed with NF diet for one week and then were shifted to HF diet (HFD) for four weeks in order to investigate their potential anti-obesity effects. We report positive effects of low doses of BC and MET supplementation on counteraction of HFD-induced body weight gain through thermogenesis. Adipocyte size reduction was seen with DS and BC+MET supplementation, but not with BC and MET individually, indicating a synergistic effect. BC, but not MET supplementation ameliorated the HFD-induced hyperglycemia. The effect was more pronounced in BC+MET group, indicating again a synergistic effect. We also show that BC, MET and DS counteract the HFD-related alterations in the level of several metabolites that play a role in inflammatory processes. All together, these results indicate beneficial effects of BC, MET and DS on obesity development and reduction of its metabolic complications, as well as synergistic effects of BC and MET joint administration.