Agavins Increase Neurotrophic Factors and Decrease Oxidative Stress in the Brains of High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

Elena Franco-Robles,Mercedes López

doi:10.3390/molecules21080998

Abstract

Background: Fructans obtained from agave, called agavins, have recently shown significant benefits for human health including obesity. Therefore, we evaluated the potential of agavins as neuroprotectors and antioxidants by determining their effect on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) as well as oxidative brain damage in of obese mice. Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and treated daily with 5% (HFD/A5) or 10% (HFD/A10) of agavins or a standard diet (SD) for 10 weeks. The levels of BDNF and GDNF were evaluated by ELISA. The oxidative stress was evaluated by lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and carbonyls. SCFAs were also measured with GC-FID. Differences between groups were assessed using ANOVA and by Tukey’s test considering p < 0.05. Results: The body weight gain and food intake of mice HFD/A10 group were significantly lower than those in the HFD group. Agavins restored BDNF levels in HFD/A5 group and GDNF levels of HFD/A5 and HFD/A10 groups in cerebellum. Interestingly, agavins decreased TBARS levels in HFD/A5 and HFD/A10 groups in the hippocampus, frontal cortex and cerebellum. Carbonyl levels were also lower in HFD/A5 and HFD/A10 for only the hippocampus and cerebellum. It was also found that agavins enhanced SCFAs production in feces. Conclusion: Agavins may act as bioactive ingredients with antioxidant and protective roles in the brain.

Highlights

Obesity is currently a public health problem worldwide
Some carbohydrates have been of particular interest in the field of obesity because they are involved in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, as in the case of fructans including agave fructans coming from Agave plants from Mexico [3]
Significant differences in the weight of mice were observed between the high-fat diet (HFD) and high-fat diet with agave fructans 5% (HFD/A5) groups when compared to the standard diet (SD) group at the beginning of the 4 weeks of treatment (p < 0.05) and at the end of experiment for 10 weeks (p < 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Obesity is currently a public health problem worldwide This problem, which nowadays can be called an epidemic, is caused by various factors such as the intake of foods with high caloric content coupled with physical inactivity and genetics, which leads to other diseases, type 2 diabetes and cardio-vascular disease [1,2]. Agave fructans are non-reducing carbohydrates formed by a complex mixture. They present a highly branched structure that includes β(2Ñ1) and β(2Ñ6) linkages and are called agavins [4]. Fructans obtained from agave, called agavins, have recently shown significant benefits for human health including obesity. We evaluated the potential of agavins as neuroprotectors and antioxidants by determining their effect on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

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Conclusion