Abstract
BackgroundTrimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Consumption of hawthorn fruit is believed to be cardio-protective, yet whether it is able to suppress the TMAO-induced atherosclerosis remains unexplored. The present study was to investigate the effects of hawthorn fruit extract (HFE) on TMAO-exacerbated atherogenesis.MethodsFive groups of male Apolipoprotein E knock-out (ApoE−/−) mice were fed a low-fat diet (LFD), a Western high-fat diet (WD), or one of the three WDs containing 0.2% TMAO (WD + TMAO), 0.2% TMAO plus 1% HFE (WD + TMAO + L-HFE), or 0.2% TMAO plus 2% HFE (WD + TMAO + H-HFE), respectively. After 12-weeks of intervention, plasma levels of TMAO, lipid profile, inflammatory biomarkers, and antioxidant enzyme activities were measured. Atherosclerotic lesions in the thoracic aorta and aortic sinus were evaluated. The sterols and fatty acids in the liver and feces were extracted and measured. Hepatic expressions of inflammatory biomarkers and antioxidant enzymes were analyzed.ResultsDietary TMAO accelerated atherogenesis, exacerbated inflammation, and reduced antioxidant capacities in the plasma and the liver. TMAO promoted hepatic cholesterol accumulation by inhibiting fecal excretion of acidic sterols. HFE could dose-dependently reduce the TMAO-aggravated atherosclerosis and inflammation. HFE was also able to reverse the TMAO-induced reduction in antioxidant capacity by up-regulating the expression of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), SOD2, glutathione peroxidase 3 (GSH-Px3), and catalase (CAT) in the liver. Moreover, the hepatic cholesterol content was lowered by HFE via enhanced fecal excretion of neutral and acidic sterols.ConclusionsThe present results indicated that HFE was able to reduce the TMAO-exacerbated atherogenesis by attenuating inflammation and improving antioxidant capacity at least in mice.Graphic abstract
Highlights
Atherosclerosis is a chronic vascular disease and has become a major underlying cause of cardiovascular deaths worldwide due to its clinical manifestations including myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular diseases
The present results clearly demonstrated that TMAO accelerated atherogenesis, exacerbated inflammation, and aggravated oxidative stress in Apolipoprotein E (ApoE)−/− mice fed a high-fat Western diet (WD)
Our results clearly showed that dietary TMAO increased plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), IL-1β, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) in mice fed a highfat WD (Fig. 2b, c, e)
Summary
Atherosclerosis is a chronic vascular disease and has become a major underlying cause of cardiovascular deaths worldwide due to its clinical manifestations including myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular diseases. He et al Nutr Metab (Lond) (2021) 18:6 hypercholesterolemia, vascular inflammation, and oxidative stress are risk factors to initiate and accelerate atherogenesis [1,2,3]. High plasma trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) has been identified as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) by inducing atherosclerosis [4,5,6]. Most blood TMAO comes from dietary trimethylamine (TMA)-containing nutrients, for example, phosphatidylcholine, choline, and L-carnitine [4]. After ingestion, these dietary precursors liberate TMA molecule under the actions of bacterial enzymes in the intestine. Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Hepatic expressions of inflammatory biomarkers and antioxidant enzymes were analyzed
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