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Taurine supplementation regulates Iκ-Bα protein expression in adipose tissue and serum IL-4 and TNF-α concentrations in MSG obesity

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Abstract

Purpose

Obesity is usually associated with low-grade inflammation, which impairs insulin action. The amino acid, taurine (TAU), regulates glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism and presents anti-inflammatory actions. Here, we evaluated whether inflammatory markers are altered in the serum and retroperitoneal adipose tissue of monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rats, supplemented or not with TAU.

Methods

Male Wistar rats received subcutaneous injections of MSG (4 mg/kg body weight/day, MSG group) or hypertonic saline (CTL) during the first 5 days of life. From 21 to 120 days of age, half of each of the MSG and CTL groups received 2.5 % TAU in their drinking water (CTAU and MTAU).

Results

At 120 days of age, MSG rats were obese and hyperinsulinemic. TAU supplementation reduced fat deposition without affecting insulinemia in MTAU rats. MSG rats presented increased pIκ-Bα/Iκ-Bα protein expression in the retroperitoneal adipose tissue. TAU supplementation decreased the ratio of pIκ-Bα/Iκ-Bα protein, possibly contributing to the increased Iκ-Bα content in MTAU adipose tissue. Furthermore, MSG obesity or supplementation did not alter TNF-α, IL-1β or IL-6 content in adipose tissue. In contrast, MSG rats presented lower serum TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-10 concentrations, and these alterations were prevented by TAU treatment.

Conclusion

MSG obesity in rats was not associated with alterations in pro-inflammatory markers in retroperitoneal fat stores; however, reductions in the serum concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines and of TNF-α were observed. TAU treatment decreased adiposity, and this effect was associated with the normalization of circulating TNF-α and IL-4 concentrations in MTAU rats.

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Acknowledgments

This study forms part of the M.Sc Thesis of Luis Carlos Caetano. We are grateful to Fernanda Michelly Nicoli for animal care and Nicola Conran for editing English. This study was supported by Grants from Conselho Nacional para o Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq process number: 480523/2012-7), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP).

Authorship

LCC, TRN, CL, JNS executed the experiments; SLB and MLB contributed to conception and experimental design, data interpretation and manuscript writing; RAR interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript; EMC intellectually contributed and provided materials and reagents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Fisiologia Endócrina e Metabolismo (LAFEM), Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (UNIOESTE), Cascavel, PR, 858119-110, Brazil

    Luiz Carlos Caetano, Maria Lúcia Bonfleur, Camila Lubaczeuski & Sandra Lucinei Balbo

  2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Campus UFRJ-Macaé, Macaé, RJ, Brazil

    Rosane Aparecida Ribeiro & Juliana do Nascimento da Silva

  3. Laboratório de Pâncreas Endócrino e Metabolismo, Departamento de Biologia Estrutural e Funcional, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Tarlliza Romanna Nardelli & Everardo Magalhães Carneiro

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  1. Luiz Carlos Caetano
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  2. Maria Lúcia Bonfleur
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  3. Rosane Aparecida Ribeiro
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  4. Tarlliza Romanna Nardelli
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  5. Camila Lubaczeuski
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  6. Juliana do Nascimento da Silva
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  7. Everardo Magalhães Carneiro
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  8. Sandra Lucinei Balbo
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Correspondence to Maria Lúcia Bonfleur.

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Caetano, L.C., Bonfleur, M.L., Ribeiro, R.A. et al. Taurine supplementation regulates Iκ-Bα protein expression in adipose tissue and serum IL-4 and TNF-α concentrations in MSG obesity. Eur J Nutr 56, 705–713 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-015-1114-8

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