Abstract
Some natural products, known sources of bioactive compounds with a wide range of properties, may have therapeutic values in human health and diseases, as well as agronomic applications. The effect of three compounds of plant origin with well-known dietary antioxidant properties, astaxanthin (ATX), caffeic acid (CA) and hydroxytyrosol (HT), on zebrafish (Danio rerio) larval adiposity and rainbow trout (Onchorynchus mykiss) adipocytes was assessed. The zebrafish obesogenic test (ZOT) demonstrated the anti-obesogenic activity of CA and HT. These compounds were able to counteract the obesogenic effect produced by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonist, rosiglitazone (RGZ). CA and HT suppressed RGZ-increased PPARγ protein expression and lipid accumulation in primary-cultured rainbow trout adipocytes. HT also significantly reduced plasma triacylglycerol concentrations, as well as mRNA levels of the fasn adipogenic gene in the adipose tissue of HT-injected rainbow trout. In conclusion, in vitro and in vivo approaches demonstrated the anti-obesogenic potential of CA and HT on teleost fish models that may be relevant for studying their molecular mode of action. Further studies are required to evaluate the effect of these bioactive components as food supplements for modulating adiposity in farmed fish.
Highlights
Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is considered one of the most serious public health problems of our time [1,2]
To investigate the effect of caffeic acid (CA), HT and ATX on the dynamics of zebrafish adiposity, zebrafish obesogenic test (ZOT) was used as a non-invasive in vivo method for visualizing lipid droplets in living larvae by fluorescence microscopy [30]
The whole-body adiposity dynamics of each larva was expressed as a percentage of variation in Nile red fluorescence signal areas in fish previously fed on standard diet (SD) after one-day’s exposure in a fasting state
Summary
Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and is considered one of the most serious public health problems of our time [1,2]. Overweight and obesity occur when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure, leading to increased storage of triacylglycerols (TAG), mainly in white adipose tissue (WAT). In addition to TAG storage in adipocyte lipid droplets, WAT has been recognized as a multi-functional endocrine organ that plays a critical role in modulating several physiological processes, such as appetite, whole-body energy metabolism and homeostasis, as well as tissue inflammation responses [3]. Caffeic acid and hydroxytyrosol in teleost models
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