Cholesterol-induced inflammation and macrophage accumulation in adipose tissue is reduced by a low carbohydrate diet in guinea pigs.
- Author:
David AGUILAR
1
;
Ryan C DEOGBURN
;
Jeff S VOLEK
;
Maria Luz FERNANDEZ
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Adipose; inflammation; dietary cholesterol; high carbohydrate; guinea pigs
- MeSH: Adipocytes; Adipose Tissue*; Animals; Aorta; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, Dietary; Cytokines; Diet; Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted*; Guinea Pigs*; Humans; Inflammation*; Interleukins; Macrophages*; Male
- From:Nutrition Research and Practice 2014;8(6):625-631
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a high cholesterol (HC) dietary challenge on cholesterol tissue accumulation, inflammation, adipocyte differentiation, and macrophage infiltration in guinea pigs. A second objective was to assess whether macronutrient manipulation would reverse these metabolic alterations. MATERIALS/METHODS: Male Hartley guinea pigs (10/group) were assigned to either low cholesterol (LC) (0.04g/100g) or high cholesterol (HC) (0.25g/100g) diets for six weeks. For the second experiment, 20 guinea pigs were fed the HC diet for six weeks and then assigned to either a low carbohydrate (CHO) diet (L-CHO) (10% energy from CHO) or a high CHO diet (H-CHO) (54% CHO) for an additional six weeks. RESULTS: Higher concentrations of total (P < 0.005) and free (P < 0.05) cholesterol were observed in both adipose tissue and aortas of guinea pigs fed the HC compared to those in the LC group. In addition, higher concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the adipose tissue (P < 0.005) and lower concentrations of anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10 were observed in the HC group (P < 0.05) compared to the LC group. Of particular interest, adipocytes in the HC group were smaller in size (P < 0.05) and showed increased macrophage infiltration compared to the LC group. When compared to the H-CHO group, lower concentrations of cholesterol in both adipose and aortas as well as lower concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in adipose tissue were observed in the L-CHO group (P < 0.05). In addition, guinea pigs fed the L-CHO exhibited larger adipose cells and lower macrophage infiltration compared to the H-CHO group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study strongly suggest that HC induces metabolic dysregulation associated with inflammation in adipose tissue and that L-CHO is more effective than H-CHO in attenuating these detrimental effects.
