Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies suggest that intake of specific bioactive compounds may have beneficial clinical effects on adipose tissue partly due to their anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties. With the overall aim to contribute to better understanding of the mechanisms of selected bioactive nutrients on fat metabolism, we investigated their role on human white adipocyte function.MethodsThe influence of the omega-3-fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the anthocyanin (AC) cyanidin-3-glucoside and its metabolite protocatechuic acid, and the beta-glucan metabolite propionic acid (PI) on adipokine secretion, fatty acid metabolism (lipolysis/lipogenesis) and adipocyte differentiation (lipid accumulation) was studied in human fat cells differentiated in vitro. To investigate possible synergistic, additive or antagonistic effects, DHA was also combined with AC or PI.ResultsEach compound, alone or together with DHA, suppressed basal adipocyte lipolysis compared to control treated cells. DHA alone attenuated the secretion of pro-inflammatory adipokines such as chemerin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2), whereas AC suppressed only the latter two. Treatment with PI decreased IL-6, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and adiponectin secretion. A combination of DHA and AC decreased TNFα secretion and increased insulin-stimulated lipogenesis. No effect was found on adipocyte differentiation. At the selected concentrations, none of the compounds was found to be cytotoxic.ConclusionThe studied bioactive food compounds or their metabolites have beneficial effects in human primary fat cells measured as decreased basal lipolytic activity and secretion of inflammatory markers. A minor effect was also observed on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake albeit only with the combination of DHA and AC. Taken together, our results may link the reported health benefits of the selected bioactives on metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia to effects on white adipocytes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12986-016-0064-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Previous studies suggest that intake of specific bioactive compounds may have beneficial clinical effects on adipose tissue partly due to their anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties
Release of other pro-inflammatory adipokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) and chemerin may contribute to metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension and cardiovascular disease [8,9,10], which are associated with the development of the metabolic syndrome [11]
The anti-inflammatory adipokine adiponectin has on the other hand been shown to correlate negatively with body mass index (BMI) (Body mass index, defined as body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) and positively with insulin sensitivity [12, 13] and its high levels are associated with a lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes [14]
Summary
Previous studies suggest that intake of specific bioactive compounds may have beneficial clinical effects on adipose tissue partly due to their anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties. Storing energy in the form of triacylglycerol (TAG) in adipocytes through lipogenesis has been shown to regulate systemic insulin sensitivity [2, 3]. Basal (spontaneous) lipolytic activity is increased in obesity and may attenuate insulin sensitivity through increased delivery of FAs to skeletal muscle (reviewed in [4]). Another important aspect of WAT function is the secretion of a class of proteins called adipokines, several with pro- or anti-inflammatory properties (see [1] for review). The anti-inflammatory adipokine adiponectin has on the other hand been shown to correlate negatively with BMI (Body mass index, defined as body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) and positively with insulin sensitivity [12, 13] and its high levels are associated with a lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes [14]
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