Abstract
Obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and fatty liver, together termed metabolic syndrome, are key risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Chronic feeding of a diet high in saturated fats and simple sugars, such as fructose and glucose, induces these changes in rats. Naturally occurring compounds could be a cost-effective intervention to reverse these changes. Flavonoids are ubiquitous secondary plant metabolites; naringin gives the bitter taste to grapefruit. This study has evaluated the effect of naringin on diet-induced obesity and cardiovascular dysfunction in high carbohydrate, high fat-fed rats. These rats developed increased body weight, glucose intolerance, increased plasma lipid concentrations, hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis, liver inflammation and steatosis with compromised mitochondrial respiratory chain activity. Dietary supplementation with naringin (approximately 100 mg/kg/day) improved glucose intolerance and liver mitochondrial dysfunction, lowered plasma lipid concentrations and improved the structure and function of the heart and liver without decreasing total body weight. Naringin normalised systolic blood pressure and improved vascular dysfunction and ventricular diastolic dysfunction in high carbohydrate, high fat-fed rats. These beneficial effects of naringin may be mediated by reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, reduced oxidative stress, lowered plasma lipid concentrations and improved liver mitochondrial function in rats.
Highlights
Metabolic syndrome is defined as a collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including abdominal obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance and fatty liver
We have reported that rats fed a high carbohydrate, high fat diet for 16 weeks developed many of the signs of metabolic syndrome in humans [11]
Our results suggest that several mechanisms may contribute to the reversal of signs, including reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, reduced oxidative stress, lowered plasma lipid concentrations and improved liver mitochondrial function
Summary
Metabolic syndrome is defined as a collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including abdominal obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance and fatty liver. This syndrome is associated with an increased dietary intake of saturated fats and simple sugars, including glucose and fructose [1,2]. The present study has determined whether administration of naringin at the same dose as rutin [12] reverses the metabolic parameters, as well as the changes in the structure and function of the heart, blood vessels, liver and kidneys in rats fed a high carbohydrate, high fat diet. We suggest that naringin has the potential to be a useful dietary supplement in the management of the signs of metabolic syndrome
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