Abstract
Obesity and its metabolic complications are associated with increased expression/activity of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1), a major regulator of lipid metabolism. Reduction or ablation of this enzyme is associated with an improved metabolic profile and has gained attention as a target for pharmaceutical development. Sterculic oil (SO) is a known inhibitor of SCD1 and may provide a natural approach for treating obesity and/or insulin resistance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of SO consumption in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice, a model of obesity and insulin resistance. Five-week-old male mice received either an AIN-93G (control) or an AIN-93G diet containing 0.5% SO. After 9 weeks, SO supplementation did not alter food intake or body weight; however, the desaturase indices, a proxy of SCD1 activity, were reduced in liver and adipose tissue of SO-supplemented animals. This reduction was associated with improved glucose and insulin tolerance and attenuated hepatic inflammation in obese ob/ob mice, while no appreciable changes were observed in lean control mice receiving SO. Future studies are needed to better understand the mechanism(s) by which SO is functioning to improve glucose metabolism and to further explore the nutraceutical potential and health implications of SO supplementation.
Highlights
Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, with approximately one third of adults and 17% of children and adolescents being obese [1].Obesity is often associated with the onset of insulin resistance and the eventual development of type 2 diabetes [2, 3]
The desaturase indices are calculated as the product to substrate ratio of the fatty acids metabolized by the enzyme stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) (16 : 1/16 : 0 and 18 : 1/18 : 0) and are used as a proxy for the enzyme’s activity [15, 29]
Regardless of phenotype, sterculic oil supplementation resulted in a dramatic reduction in the desaturase indices of liver and adipose tissue (Figure 1)
Summary
Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, with approximately one third of adults and 17% of children and adolescents being obese [1].Obesity is often associated with the onset of insulin resistance and the eventual development of type 2 diabetes [2, 3]. In an attempt to treat obesity and improve insulin sensitivity, numerous dietary, pharmaceutical, and lifestyle interventions have been investigated [4, 5]. There is increased interest in dietary supplements containing nutraceuticals that have been determined to be beneficial to the human body either by preventing chronic diseases or improving metabolic health [4, 5]. Sterculic oil contains two unique cyclopropenoic fatty acids, sterculic (55%), and malvalic (10%) acids [11, 12], which inhibit the enzymatic activity of SCD1 [9, 10]. SCD1, a major enzyme involved in fatty acid metabolism, has emerged as a potential pharmaceutical
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