Wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)-enriched diet improves dyslipidaemia and modulates the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism in obese Zucker rats

• Published in: British journal of nutrition 2014-01, Vol.111 (2), p.194-200
• Main Authors: Vendrame, Stefano, Daugherty, Allison, Kristo, Aleksandra S., Klimis-Zacas, Dorothy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Animal Feed - analysis; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Berries; Biological and medical sciences; Cholesterol; Diet; Diet - veterinary; Dyslipidemias - drug therapy; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Homeostasis; Lipid Metabolism - drug effects; Lipids; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Metabolic disorders; Molecular Nutrition; Obesity; Obesity - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Zucker; Rodents; Vaccinium; Vaccinium - chemistry; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114513002390

The present study investigated the potential of a wild blueberry (WB)-enriched diet to improve blood lipid profile and modulate the expression of genes related to lipid homeostasis in obese Zucker rats (OZR), a model of the metabolic syndrome with severe dyslipidaemia. For this purpose, twenty OZR and twenty lean Zucker rats (LZR; controls) were placed either on a control (C) or an 8 % WB diet for 8 weeks. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol and TAG concentrations were determined. The relative expression of six genes involved in lipid metabolism was also determined in both the liver and the abdominal adipose tissue (AAT). Plasma TAG and TC concentrations were significantly lower in the OZR following WB consumption (4228 (sem 471) and 2287 (sem 125) mg/l, respectively) than in those on the C diet (5475 (sem 315) and 2631 (sem 129) mg/l, P