Egg-Phosphatidylcholine Attenuates T-Cell Dysfunction in High-Fat Diet Fed Male Wistar Rats

• Published in: Frontiers in nutrition (Lausanne) Vol. 9; p. 811469
• Main Authors: Azarcoya-Barrera, Jessy, Wollin, Bethany, Veida-Silva, Hellen, Makarowski, Alexander, Goruk, Susan, Field, Catherine J, Jacobs, René L, Richard, Caroline
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 02.02.2022
• Subjects: egg; high-fat diet; immunology; Nutrition; obesity; phosphatidylcholine; egg; immunology; obesity; high-fat diet; phosphatidylcholine
• ISSN: 2296-861X; 2296-861X
• DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.811469

Obesity is associated with immune dysfunction including an impaired T-cell function characterized by a lower IL-2 (proliferation marker) production after stimulation. Phosphatidylcholine (PC), a form of choline mostly found in eggs, has been shown to beneficially modulate T-cell responses during the lactation period by increasing the production of IL-2. To determine the impact of egg-PC as part of a high-fat diet on immune function we randomly fed male Wistar rats one of three diets containing the same amount of total choline but differing in the form of choline: 1-Control low fat [CLF, 10% wt/wt fat, 100% free choline (FC)]; 2- Control high-fat (CHF, 25% wt/wt fat, 100% FC); 3- PC high-fat (PCHF, 25% wt/wt, 100% PC). After 9 weeks of feeding, rats were euthanized. Cell phenotypes and cytokine production by splenocytes stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate plus ionomycin (PMA+I), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and pokeweed (PWM) were measured by flow cytometry and ELISA, respectively. Rats fed the PCHF diet had a lower proportion of CD3+ cells when compared to both the CLF and the CHF. Following PMA+I stimulation, splenocytes from the CHF group produced less IL-2 and TNF-α compared to CLF and PCHF groups. No significant differences in cytokine production were found among groups after LPS and PWM stimulation. Our results show that feeding a high-fat diet impairs T-cell responses, as measured by cytokine production, which can be attenuated by providing egg-PC.