Abstract
Although the management of malnutrition is a priority in older people, this population shows a resistance to refeeding. Fresh bee pollen contains nutritional substances of interest for malnourished people. The aim was to evaluate the effect of fresh bee pollen supplementation on refeeding efficiency in old malnourished rats. Male 22-month-old Wistar rats were undernourished by reducing food intake for 12 weeks. The animals were then renourished for three weeks with the same diet supplemented with 0%, 5% or 10% of fresh monofloral bee pollen. Due to changes in both lean mass and fat mass, body weight decreased during malnutrition and increased after refeeding with no between-group differences (p < 0.0001). Rats refed with the fresh bee pollen-enriched diets showed a significant increase in muscle mass compared to restricted rats (p < 0.05). The malnutrition period reduced the muscle protein synthesis rate and mTOR/p70S6kinase/4eBP1 activation, and only the 10%-pollen diet was able to restore these parameters. Mitochondrial activity was depressed with food restriction and was only improved by refeeding with the fresh bee pollen-containing diets. In conclusion, refeeding diets that contain fresh monofloral bee pollen improve muscle mass and metabolism in old, undernourished rats.
Highlights
Bee pollen has been used for years as an exceptionally nutrient-rich health supplement [1]
We investigated whether malnutrition-induced alterations in body weight and composition and muscle protein and energy metabolism were reversible in old rats receiving renutrition via two fresh pollen-enriched diets, i.e., 5% bee pollen and 10% bee pollen supplementation
Building on our previous work [45], we propose that the fresh bee pollen-supplemented diet-induced improvement in functional mitochondria may be the result of attenuated mitochondrial oxidant emission, increased oxidant scavenging and decreased cellular oxidative damage, all of which could be expected to contribute to maintaining the functional integrity of the mitochondrial machinery
Summary
Bee pollen has been used for years as an exceptionally nutrient-rich health supplement [1]. Bee pollens are rich in flavonoid and phenolic compounds. Their antioxidant effects are largely related to their free radical scavenging activity [2,3]. Bee pollen is often claimed to cure certain health problems, and there is evidence that it can improve microcirculation and dyslipidemia and prevent and control coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction [5,6]. Bee pollen is cytotoxic against tumor cells [7] and regulates immune activity [8], and it is recommended to enhance athletic performance, reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and improve allergies and asthma [9]
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