Increased Visfatin Expression Is Associated with Nuclear Factor-κB in Obese Ovalbumin-Sensitized Male Wistar Rat Tracheae

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of diet-induced obesity on the expression of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and visfatin messenger RNA in male Wistar rats' tracheae after sensitization with ovalbumin (OVA). Materials and Methods: Twenty male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups (n = 5 for each group), which included a control group fed a normal diet (ND) and groups fed normal diet, OVA-sensitized (S+ND); high-fat diet (HFD) only (diet-induced obesity); and high-fat diet, OVA-sensitized (S+HFD). All animals were fed for 8 weeks with standard chow or a high-fat diet, and then were sensitized and challenged with OVA or saline for another 4 weeks as per the above groups. The rats were anesthetized, after which the necks were exposed and the tracheae isolated and examined for expression levels of NF-κB and visfatin mRNA with the real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Data were compared between the different groups using one-way analysis of variance. Results: The expression level of NF-κB mRNA in the S+HFD group was 2.67, which was statistically higher than the levels in the ND (0.96; p = 0.001), S+ND (1.86; p = 0.05), and HFD (1.26; p = 0.001) groups. Also, the visfatin mRNA expression level in the S+HFD group was 4.21, which was higher than the levels in the ND (0.92), S+ND (1.79), and HFD (2.20) (p = 0.001) groups. Conclusion: In this study, the expression levels of NF-κB and visfatin were markedly higher in the S+HFD group in comparison to the other groups. These findings indicate that alternative signaling pathways might be activated in diet-induced obesity associated with the OVA-sensitized animal model and could be responsible for possible altered sensitization phenotype.

Effect of high fat diet on NF‐кB microRNA146a negative feedback loop in ovalbumin‐sensitized rats

“…In DIO groups, serum levels of TG, TC, LDL, and HDL were remarkably increased compared with those in the normal diet groups, indicating the occurrence of hyperlipidemia, which was similar to previous studies [45,46]. Given that it has been shown that free fatty acids can activate inflammatory pathways in tissues [7], the authors do not rule out the effect of lipid profiles in alteration of cellular pathways. Increasing the miRNA-146a as well as NF-kB in the current study and there was the association between miRNA-146a with lipid profile, at least in part, reflects the fact that free fatty acids may have been involved in these pathways, which requires further studies.…”

“…To calculate the obesity indices in the rodents, factors such as final body weight, percentage of body fat (BF%), and Lee index were determined. The following formula indicates the calculation of all the obesity indices : Percentage of body weight changes (%) = [(Final weight ‐ initial weight)/ initial weight] × 100 Lee index (mg/mm) = Final weight 0.33 / naso‐anal length Percentage of body fat (%) = 0.69 (Lee index‐274.8) …”

“…Epidemiological data show that weight gain increases the risk of asthma and exacerbates its symptoms . Although the underlying mechanism for the association of obesity with asthma is not well defined, there are some factors that indicate this association such as common genetic basis , asthma comorbidities , effects of obesity on pulmonary volumes , chronic systemic inflammation , and adipokines .…”

Effect of High-fat Diet on Tracheal Responsiveness to Methacholine and Insulin Resistance Index in Ovalbumin-sensitized Male and Female Rats

“…We have previously shown that visfatin, one of the adipocytokines, in lung tissue increases in obesity associated with the OVAsensitization condition. 32 The accumulation of inflammatory cytokines along with systemic inflammation in obesity situation may have affected airway responsiveness, which requires further studies.…”

A Complex Relationship between Visfatin and Resistin and microRNA: An In Vitro Study on Human Chondrocyte Cultures

“…In fact, the activated form of NF-κB induces the transcription of various catabolic factors, MMPs, ADAMTS, cytokines and chemokines, pro-inflammatory mediators, and contributes to the degradation of collagen and proteoglycans [74,75]. Different studies showed that visfatin and resistin induce the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway [41,76,77,78,79]. In agreement with the current literature we demonstrated a significant increase of the expression, activation, and in turn of the nuclear translocation of the NF-κB p50 subunit in OA chondrocytes incubated by visfatin and resistin.…”