Protective effects of whey protein concentrate admixtured of curcumin on metabolic control, inflammation and oxidative stress in Wistar rats submitted to exhaustive exercise

Abstract

This work aimed to evaluate the effects of whey protein concentrate admixtured of curcumin on metabolic control, inflammation and oxidative stress in Wistar rats submitted to exhaustive exercise. A total of 48 male rats were divided into 6 experimental groups (n = 8): standard diet group (AIN-93M); standard diet submitted to exhaustion test group (AIN-93M ET); whey protein concentrate admixtured of curcumin group (WPC + CCM); WPC + CCM submitted to exhaustion test group (WPC + CCM ET); CCM group, and CCM subjected to exhaustion test group (CCM ET). The swimming exhaustion test was performed after 4 weeks of experiment. The consumption of WPC + CCM as well as isolated CCM did not alter the biometric measurements, the animals’ food consumption and the hepatic and kidney function, as well as the protein balance of the animals (p>0.05), but reduced the glycemia and the gene expression of TNF- α and IL-6, and increased the expression of IL-10 (p<0.05). The animals that were submitted to the exhaustion test (AIN-93M ET) showed higher AST values when compared to the animals that did not perform the exercise (AIN-93 M) (p<0.05). WPC + CCM reduced the concentration of nitric oxide, carbonylated protein and increased the concentration of catalase (p<0.05). Both (WPC + CCM and CCM) were able to increase the concentrations of superoxide dismutase (p<0.05). We concluded that the WPC admixtured of CCM represents a strategy capable of decreasing blood glucose and oxidative and inflammatory damage caused by exhaustive physical exercise in swimming.

Curcumin as a Potential Antioxidant in Stress Regulation of Terrestrial, Avian, and Aquatic Animals: A Review

“…To address these issues, the inclusion of antioxidants such as curcumin in the diet has been considered. Conceição et al suggested that a combination of whey protein concentrate and curcumin could potentially decrease the expression of inflammatory cytokines and increase that of anti-inflammatory cytokines [ 47 ]. Furthermore, a mixture of cinnamon and turmeric has been shown to maintain and enhance antioxidant enzyme activities.…”

Strategies for Improving Bioavailability, Bioactivity, and Physical-Chemical Behavior of Curcumin

“…Protein from whey is arguably the most researched type of protein in relation to curcumin, in the form of whey protein isolate (WPI) [ 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 ], as well as whey protein concentrate (WPC) [ 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 ]. However, while both WPI and WPC come from whey, there is a significant difference between them in terms of processing and final product composition.…”