Nutrition & Metabolism (Mar 2011)

Fish oil rich diet in comparison to saturated fat rich diet offered protection against lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation and insulin resistance in mice

  • Ziegler Thomas R,
  • Aitken Jesse D,
  • Patel Nilam,
  • Vanegas Sally M,
  • Vijay-Kumar Matam,
  • Ganji Vijay

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-7075-8-16
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
p. 16

Abstract

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Abstract Background and Objective Systemic chronic inflammation is linked to metabolic syndrome, type-2 diabetes, and heart disease. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a Gram negative microbial product, triggers inflammation through toll-like-receptor-4 (TLR-4) signaling. It has been reported that dietary fatty acids also modulate inflammation through TLR-4. We investigated whether fish oil (FO) rich diet in comparison to saturated fat (SF) rich diet would confer protection from pathologies induced by LPS. Methods Twenty C57BL/6 mice were divided into two groups. One group received FO-diet and other received SF-diet ad libitum for 60 days. Diets were isocaloric containing 45% energy from fat. After 60-days of feeding, blood was collected after overnight fast. Mice were allowed to recover for 4-days, fasted for 5-hours, challenged with 100 ng/mL of LPS intraperitonially, and bled after 2-hours. After 7-days of recuperation, mice were challenged with 500 ng/mL of LPS intraperitonially and observed for physical health. Results Food intake was similar in FO- and SF-fed mice. FO-fed mice compared to SF-fed mice had significantly less body weight gain (P = 0.005), epididymal fat weight (P = 0.005), fasting blood glucose (70.8 vs 83.3 ng/dL; P Conclusion Overall, FO-diet compared to SF-diet offered protection against deleterious effects of LPS in mice.