Abstract
Black truffle, a culinary and medical fungus, is highly valued worldwide for its nutritional and therapeutic importance. To enhance the existing knowledge about the beneficial properties, this study investigates the antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, and anti-inflammatory effects of black truffle extract in in vitro biochemical assays and animal study. Briefly, black truffle extract was administered orally to treat streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic Wistar rats for 45 days. At the end of the experimental duration, rats were sacrificed to perform biochemical and gene expression analyses related to lipid regulatory and inflammatory pathways. Our results indicated that total cholesterol, triglycerides, free fatty acids, phospholipids, and low-density lipoprotein in different tissues and circulation were significantly increased in diabetic rats. Furthermore, the β-hydroxy β-methylglutaryl-CoA enzyme was also significantly increased; lipoprotein lipase and lecithin–cholesterol acyltransferase enzymes were significantly decreased in diabetic rats. However, the above conditions were reversed upon black truffle extract feeding. Furthermore, black truffle extract was also found to downregulate the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6) and lipid regulatory genes (serum regulatory element-binding protein-1 and fatty acid synthase). The truffle extract-treated effects were comparable to glibenclamide and medication commonly used to treat diabetes mellitus. Overall, our results suggested that black truffle possesses strong antihyperlipidemic and anti-inflammatory effects on diabetic rats. These findings will enhance the current knowledge about the therapeutic importance of black truffles. They might be exploited as a possible food supplement or even as a natural source of pharmaceutical agents for diabetes prevention and treatment.
Highlights
Black truffle (Tuber melanosporum), a hypogenous and edible fungus, is considered delicious and cherished worldwide [1]
Our study shows that the levels of tissue and plasma TG, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels were increased significantly in the liver and kidney tissues of diabetic rats, and the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were found to be decreased
Our study found that C-Reactive Protein in Plasma (CRP) levels were increased in circulation in diabetic rats and reduced significantly upon the treatment with truffle extract
Summary
Black truffle (Tuber melanosporum), a hypogenous and edible fungus, is considered delicious and cherished worldwide [1]. The popularity of the black truffle is due to its nutritional and medicinal properties [2–4]. Black truffle is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, phenolics, and flavonoids [5–8]. Previous studies have demonstrated that black truffle exhibited various therapeutic properties, such as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, immunosuppressive, antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, and antimicrobial properties which are valuable for human health [3, 9, 10]. As a traditional folk medicine, black truffle has been used for adjunctive therapy of several diseases, such as eye ailments and gastric cancer [11, 12]. Fewer studies investigated the ability of black truffle in attenuating hyperlipidemia and inflammation in diabetic conditions [13, 14]
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