The flavan-3-ol fraction of cocoa powder suppressed changes associated with early-stage metabolic syndrome in high-fat diet-fed rats

• Published in: Life sciences (1973) Vol. 114; no. 1; pp. 51 - 56
• Main Authors: Osakabe, Naomi, Hoshi, Junpei, Kudo, Naoto, Shibata, Masahiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 26.09.2014
• Subjects: Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase - metabolism; Adipose Tissue - drug effects; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adipose Tissue, White - drug effects; Adipose Tissue, White - metabolism; Animals; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Cacao - chemistry; Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase - metabolism; Diet, High-Fat - adverse effects; DNA, Mitochondrial - metabolism; Flavan-3-ols; Flavonoids - isolation & purification; Flavonoids - pharmacology; Ion Channels - metabolism; Lipolysis; Lipolysis - drug effects; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Male; Metabolic Syndrome - etiology; Metabolic Syndrome - prevention & control; Mitochondrial Proteins - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Thermogenesis; Thermogenesis - drug effects; Uncoupling Protein 1; Uncoupling Protein 3; Uncoupling proteins; Weight Gain - drug effects; Uncoupling proteins; Thermogenesis; Flavan-3-ols; Lipolysis
• ISSN: 0024-3205; 1879-0631
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2014.07.041

Previous epidemiological studies have suggested that ingestion of chocolate reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. In the present study, we examined the effects of flavan-3-ols derived from cocoa on blood pressure, lipolysis, and thermogenesis in rats fed a high-fat diet and that showed early signs of metabolic syndrome. The rats were divided into three groups, and fed either normal diet (normal), 60% fat high-fat diet (HFD), or HFD containing 0.2% flavan-3-ols (HFD-flavan) for 4weeks. At the end of the feeding period, blood pressure was measured and animals were sacrificed under anesthesia. Lipolysis and thermogenesis-related protein levels were measured in several tissues by Western blotting, and mitochondrial DNA copy number was measured by RT-PCR. Mean blood pressure and epididymal adipose tissue weight of HFD-flavan were significantly lower compared with those of HFD. Uncoupling protein (UCP)1 in brown adipose tissue and UCP3 in gastrocnemius of HFD-flavan were significantly increased compared with those of HFD group. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) 2 levels in liver and medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) levels in gastrocnemius and liver were significantly increased by the supplementation of flavan-3-ols. In addition to having hypotensive effects, flavan-3-ols enhance thermogenesis and lipolysis and consequently reduce white adipose tissue weight gain in response to high-fat diet feeding.