Impact of different omega-3 fatty acid sources on lipid, hormonal, blood glucose, weight gain and histopathological damages profile in PCOS rat model

Abstract

Background Omega-3 fatty acids (Ω-3 PUFAs) may help to improve health status in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) by reducing numerous metabolic disorders (insulin sensitivity, hyperinsulinemia, lipid profile, obesity and inflammation). To evaluate the current objective, 16 weeks (6 weeks of adjustment period followed by 10 weeks of collection period) research trial was planned to check the impact of different sources of Ω-3 PUFAs (synthetic Ω-3, flaxseed and fish oil) on nutrient digestibility, weight gain, productive (lipid profile, glucose and insulin), reproductive profile (progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen, luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin) and histological study of ovarian tissues in Wistar female rats. Methods Forty-five rats of 130 ± 10 g weight were divided into 5 groups, each having 9 rats: NC (negative control without PCOS), PC (positive control with PCOS), SO (synthetic omega-3 containing ALA, EPA and DHA), FO (flaxseed oil) and F (fish oil) fed at 300 mg/kg/orally/daily of these sources were added in the basal diets while PC and NC received only the basal diet. Food and water were offered ad libitum. PCOS was induced in the rats fed of PC, SO, FO and F diets group by single intramuscular injection of estradiol-valerate (4 mg/rat/IM). Body weight and blood glucose was recorded weekly. At 16th week of trial, blood samples were collected for lipid and hormonal analysis. Ovarian tissues were removed for pathological evaluation. Digestibility was measured by total collection method. Results Cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins were reduced in SO, FO and F groups when compared with rats of PC group. However, increasing trend of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was found in same groups. The highest HDL (36.83 ± 0.72 mg/dL) was observed in rats fed F diet. In case of a hormonal profile, testosterone, LH and insulin levels showed a significant reduction after treatments. Blood glucose results showed significantly reducing trend in all the rats fed with Ω-3 PUFAs sources than PC from 5 to 10th week of trial. However, similar trend was noticed in rat’s body weight at the end of 6th week. In ovarian morphology, different stages of follicles were observed in groups fed SO, FO and F diets. Nutrient digestibility in PCOS induced rats was remained non-significant. Conclusions The three sources of Ω-3 PUFAs had effective role in improving lipid and hormonal profile, reducing blood glucose, weight gain and histopathological damages in PCOS rats. However, fish oil source might be an innovative approach to cure PCOS via reducing the weight and metabolic anomalies due to EPA and DHA.

Dietary and serum n-3 PUFA and polycystic ovary syndrome: a matched case–control study

“…Table 3 shows the associations between dietary omega-3 PUFAs and PCOS. For With regard to the long-chain omega-3 PUFAs in serum phospholipids, both the medians of total and long-chain omega-3 PUFAs were significantly lower in the cases than in the controls ( 4 10.99] for long-chain omega-3 PUFAs; both p < 0.001). Consistently, the median values of all serum phospholipid omega-3 PUFA levels were significantly lower in the cases than in the controls (all p < 0.001) (Table 2).…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that a specific diet containing n-3 PUFA, especially long-chain PUFA, significantly improved the clinical manifestations of dyslipidaemia, vascular endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance in patients with PCOS (8,9) . Komal et al (10) reported that fish oil, as a source of EPA and DHA, reduced body weight and metabolic anomalies in an animal model. One meta-analysis involving 591 PCOS patients from nine randomised controlled trials indicated that supplementation with n-3 PUFA may improve the insulin resistance index and adiponectin level as well as decrease total cholesterol and total TGA levels (9) .…”

Untargeted metabolomic approach to study the serum metabolites in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

“…The study focused on differences in FA profiles of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue between pregnant women with and without PCOS found that total PUFA was lower in PCOS than non-PCOS women ( p < 0.004) [ 22 ]. The animal model study also showed that ω-3 PUFA had an effective role in improving lipid and hormonal profile, reducing blood glucose, body weight and histopathological damages in PCOS rats [ 23 ]. Based on the positive role of FAs in normal lipid metabolism and ovarian function in PCOS, therefore, in this study, the significantly changed FAs were all down-regulated in PCOS patients, which were coincident with the previous reports.…”

Effects of N-acetylcysteine and metformin treatment on the stereopathological characteristics of uterus and ovary

“… 5 In the ovary, the presence of cystic follicles with a thin layer of granulosa cells and the absence of corpus luteum (indicative of anovulation status) is a common finding. 6 One of the most basic treatment lines of PCOS is metformin. Metformin is a biguanide used to treat hyperglycemia, reduce insulin resistance, and inhibit hepatic gluconeogenesis.…”