Bioactive Foods Decrease Liver and Brain Alterations Induced by a High-Fat-Sucrose Diet through Restoration of Gut Microbiota and Antioxidant Enzymes

Abstract

Obesity is associated with cognitive deficit and liver alterations; however, it remains unclear whether a combination of functional foods could reverse cognitive damage and to what extent it would be associated with changes in gut microbiota and liver. With this aim, male Wistar rats were fed a high-fat-5%sucrose diet (HFS) for 4 mo. And were then fed for 1 mo. with bioactive foods. At the end of this period, liver, serum, feces, intestine, and brain samples were taken. Body composition, energy expenditure, LPS, hormones, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, behavioral tests, and gut microbiota were evaluated. We showed that male rats fed high-fat-sucrose diet developed gut microbiota dysbiosis, increased in body fat, decreased antioxidant activity, decreased brain neuropeptide Y, increased the number of astrocytes and activated microglia, along with reduced spine density associated with deficits in working memory. Ingestion of a combination of nopal, soy protein, curcumin, and chia seed oil (bioactive foods) for three months was associated with an increase in a cluster of bacteria with anti-inflammatory capacity, a decrease in serum LPS levels and an increase in serum eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) with neuroprotective properties. In the liver, ingestion of bioactive food significantly increased antioxidant enzymes, decreased lipogenesis, reduced inflammation mediated by the TLR4-TNFα pathway along with a decrease in body fat, glucose intolerance, and metabolic inflexibility. Finally, neuroinflammation in the brain was reduced and working memory improved. Our study demonstrates that consumption of bioactive foods was associated with reduced liver, brain, and gut microbiota alterations in obese rats.

Matcha green tea targets the gut–liver axis to alleviate obesity and metabolic disorders induced by a high-fat diet

“…Gut microbiota has been characterized to have related underlying mechanisms in obesity for it plays a key role in energy homeostasis, immunity, and blood circulation ( 29 – 31 ). More and more evidence proved that compounds with high biological activity, such as polyphenols, can help modulate the gut microbiota dysbiosis and intervene the obesity ( 32 – 34 ). Chemical analysis showed that matcha supplied in this study was rich in EGCG, an antioxidant with high biological activity.…”

Effects of diabetes on microglial physiology: a systematic review of in vitro, preclinical and clinical studies

“…Recent studies about obesity-induced cognitive deficits have focused on the gut-brain axis, suggesting that microbiota dysbiosis is the primary response of the organism to hypercaloric diets, followed by neuroinflammation. In this regard, rats chronically fed with highfat-sucrose diet develop gut microbiota dysbiosis and concomitant accumulation of amoeboid microglia in the prefrontal cortex [192]. Likewise, a time-course study on rats fed with high-fat-sucrose diet showed a diet-induced progressive remodeling of microbiota leading to microbiota dysbiosis, accompanied by increased Iba1 expression in the nucleus tractus solitarius as early as 4 weeks on the diet, and exacerbated at 26 weeks [193].…”

Feeding the Brain: Effect of Nutrients on Cognition, Synaptic Function, and AMPA Receptors

“…Other mechanisms are also compromised in WD-induced cognitive damage: insulin (INS) signaling in the brain [ 60 , 68 ], blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability [ 41 , 57 , 62 ], HPC inflammation [ 45 , 46 , 49 , 54 , 60 , 68 ], microglia activation [ 54 , 57 , 65 , 68 , 72 ], endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and oxidative stress [ 43 , 51 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 71 ], gut microbiome composition [ 44 , 46 , 54 , 56 , 58 ], and neurogenesis [ 59 ]. Therapeutic strategies based on modulating these mechanisms have demonstrated unequal effects on memory loss.…”