Chronic High Dose Zinc Supplementation Induces Visceral Adipose Tissue Hypertrophy without Altering Body Weight in Mice.

Xiaohua Huang,Shengyu Xu,Chao Huang,Yingguo Zhu,Lixia Li,Lianqiang Che,Yuanfeng Zou,Dandan Jiang,Bin Feng,De Wu,Zhengfeng Fang,Yan Lin,Jian Li

doi:10.3390/nu9101138

Xiaohua Huang, Shengyu Xu + Show 11 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9101138

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Oct 18, 2017
Citations: 27	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Sichuan Agricultural University

Abstract

The trace element zinc plays an important role in human life. Zinc deficiency impairs growth, reproduction, metabolism and immunity in both human and animals. Thus, zinc supplementation is recommended in daily life. However, the effect of long-term chronic zinc supplementation on adipose homeostasis has not been well elucidated. In the current study, mice were supplemented with zinc sulfate in the drinking water for 20 weeks. The results suggested that chronic zinc supplementation impaired systemic glucose clearance after exogenous insulin or glucose challenges, as compared to the control mice. Further study revealed that chronic zinc supplementation made no difference to body weight, but increased visceral adipose tissue weight and adipocyte size. In addition, gene expression of leptin and IL6 in the visceral adipose tissue of zinc-supplemented mice were higher than those of control mice. Moreover, serum level of leptin of the zinc-supplemented mice was twice as high as that of the control mice. Besides, phosphorylation level of AKT T308 was attenuated in the perirenal adipose tissue of zinc-supplemented mice. In comparison, the expression of macrophage marker genes and lipogenic genes were not affected by chronic zinc supplementation, but the protein levels of FAS and SCD1 decreased or tended to decrease in the perirenal adipose tissue of zinc-supplemented mice, as compared to the control mice. Our findings suggest that chronic high dose zinc supplementation induces visceral adipose tissue hypertrophy and impairs AKT signaling in perirenal adipose tissue.

Highlights

IntroductionThe trace element zinc is essential for human health as it plays an important role in growth, immunity, reproduction, inflammation, metabolism and gastrointestinal function [1,2,3,4,5]
The trace element zinc is essential for human health as it plays an important role in growth, immunity, reproduction, inflammation, metabolism and gastrointestinal function [1,2,3,4,5].Notably, zinc deficiency induces metabolic diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), insulin resistance, adipose tissue inflammation and hyperglycemia [6,7,8]
Mice were supplemented with zinc sulfate in the drinking water for over

Summary

Introduction

The trace element zinc is essential for human health as it plays an important role in growth, immunity, reproduction, inflammation, metabolism and gastrointestinal function [1,2,3,4,5]. Zinc deficiency induces metabolic diseases, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), insulin resistance, adipose tissue inflammation and hyperglycemia [6,7,8]. Zinc displays an insulin-like character, which can stimulate cellular insulin signaling [9]. It is reported that zinc stimulates the adipose differentiation of preadipocytes in vitro [14]. Zhang et al reported that zinc supplementation induced intramuscular adipocytes content in weaned piglets [15]

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