Brain Alterations in High Fat Diet Induced Obesity: Effects of Tart Cherry Seeds and Juice

Abstract

Evidence suggests that obesity adversely affects brain function. High body mass index, hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes are risk factors for increasing cognitive decline. Tart cherries (Prunus Cerasus L.) are rich in anthocyanins and components that modify lipid metabolism. This study evaluated the effects of tart cherries on the brain in diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. DIO rats were fed with a high-fat diet alone or in association with a tart cherry seeds powder (DS) and juice (DJS). DIO rats were compared to rats fed with a standard diet (CHOW). Food intake, body weight, fasting glycemia, insulin, cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured. Immunochemical and immunohistochemical techniques were performed. Results showed that body weight did not differ among the groups. Blood pressure and glycemia were decreased in both DS and DJS groups when compared to DIO rats. Immunochemical and immunohistochemical techniques demonstrated that in supplemented DIO rats, the glial fibrillary acid protein expression and microglial activation were reduced in both the hippocampus and in the frontal cortex, while the neurofilament was increased. Tart cherry intake modified aquaporin 4 and endothelial inflammatory markers. These findings indicate the potential role of this nutritional supplement in preventing obesity-related risk factors, especially neuroinflammation.

Obesity and Age-Related Changes in the Brain of the Zucker Lepr fa/fa Rats

“…Our results showed an increase of AQP4 in OZRs, similar to the results in the diet-induced obese rats [30], as well as in the animal model of hypertension [58]. Also, elevated expression of AQP4 was reported in the cerebral cortex of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat of 20 weeks and the spontaneously hypertensive rat of 32 weeks [58].…”

“…Moreover, in aging or in the presence of some diseases, the cerebral expression of GFAP and GFAP mRNA was higher [48,49]. Astrogliosis is common in the brain of spontaneously hypertensive rats and in streptozotocin-treated diabetic rats [49,50], two pathologies to some extent coexisting in OZRs and at the same time in a model of diet-induced obesity [30]. Data regarding the higher GFAP expression in OZRs are in agreement and corroborate the previous study [28].…”

“…The text was performed one week before the sacrifice. The open-field box consisted of a square box made of plastic with the following dimensions: 43 × 43 floor area and 25 × 25 cm virtual central zone (Med Associates, St Albans, Vermont, USA) [30]. The overall activity in the box was measured for 10 min to quantify the spontaneous locomotor parameters of the animal placed in the cage.…”

“…During the training, after entry into the dark side, the rat receives a mild foot shock (1.24 mA 3 s) and it is removed from the box. Electric shock was delivered to the grid floor by a constant current generator (Med Associates, St Albans, Vermont, USA) [30]. For the retention assessment, after 72 h the rat is then placed back into the same context (cage where it received foot shocks) and cross-over latency is measured, up to a maximum of 300 s as the cut-off.…”

Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activities, and Health Beneficial Effects of Selected Commercial Berry Fruits: A Review

“…Recently Lamb et al, (2020) also demonstrated the effect of tart cherry juice to reduce risk of recurrent gout flare (Lamb, Lynn, Russell, & Barker, 2020). Di Bonaventura et al, (2020) indicated that tract cherry has potential role to prevent obesity-related risk factors, especially neuroinflammation based on a rat model study (Di Bonaventura et al, 2020). In a mice model study Smith et al, (2019) found that cherry supplementation (5% and 10%) improved bone mineral density (BMD) and some indices of trabecular and cortical bone microarchitecture and they proposed that these effects were likely attributed to increased bone mineralization (Smith et al, 2019).…”