Diverse Impact of N-Acetylcysteine or Alpha-Lipoic Acid Supplementation during High-Fat Diet Regime on Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 in Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue

• Published in: Cellular physiology and biochemistry Vol. 56; no. 2; pp. 166 - 179
• Main Authors: Wołosowicz, Marta, Łukaszuk, Bartłomiej, Kasacka, Irena, Chabowski, Adrian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Cell Physiol Biochem Press GmbH & Co KG 15.04.2022
• Subjects: Acetylcysteine - therapeutic use; Animals; Antioxidants - metabolism; Diet, High-Fat - adverse effects; Dietary Supplements; Male; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 - genetics; Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 - metabolism; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - genetics; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - metabolism; Obesity - drug therapy; Obesity - etiology; Obesity - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Subcutaneous Fat - metabolism; Thioctic Acid - pharmacology; Thioctic Acid - therapeutic use; N-acetylcysteine; Alpha-lipoic acid; Oxidative stress; Matrix metalloproteinase-2; Matrix metalloproteinase-9
• DOI: 10.33594/000000511
• ISSN: 1015-8987

The high-fat diet (HFD) regime causes obesity and contributes to the development of oxidative stress in the cells by the production of reactive oxygen species and the occurrence and progress of inflammation. Despite years of studies, there is no data explaining the mechanism of action of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue of HFD-fed rats. Our experiment aimed to evaluate for the first time the influence of chronic antioxidants administration on MMPs biology after an HFD regime as a potential therapeutic strategy for obesity-related complications prevention. Male Wistar rats were fed a standard rodent chow or an HFD with intragastric administration of NAC or ALA for ten weeks. The collected samples were subjected to pathohistological evaluation. Real-time PCR and western blot approaches were used to check whether NAC or ALA impacts MMP2/9 expression. Antioxidant supplementation markedly reduced the number of circulating inflammatory cytokines, and tissue macrophage infiltration. Moreover, NAC and ALA have a divergent impact on MMP2 and MMP9 expression in different adipose tissue localization. Based on our results, we speculate that NAC and ALA have a prominent effect on the MMP2/9 functions under obesity conditions.