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Cinnamaldehyde supplementation acts as an insulin mimetic compound improving glucose metabolism during adolescence, but not during adulthood, in healthy male rats

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Abstract

Purpose

Adolescence is a critical period of increased vulnerability to nutritional modifications, and adolescents may respond differently from adults to dietary intake and nutraceuticals. Cinnamaldehyde, a major bioactive compound of cinnamon, improves energy metabolism, as has been shown in studies conducted primarily in adult animals. We hypothesized that cinnamaldehyde treatment may have a higher impact on the glycemic homeostasis of healthy adolescent rats than on healthy adult rats.

Methods

Male adolescent (30 days) or adult (90 days) Wistar rats received cinnamaldehyde (40 mg/kg) for 28 days by gavage. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), liver glycogen content, serum insulin concentration, serum lipid profile, and hepatic insulin signaling marker expression were evaluated.

Results

Cinnamaldehyde-treated adolescent rats showed less weight gain (P = 0.041), improved OGTT (P = 0.004), increased expression of phosphorylated IRS-1 (P = 0.015), and a trend to increase phosphorylated IRS-1 (P = 0.063) in the liver of adolescent rats in the basal state. None of these parameters was modified after treatment with cinnamaldehyde in the adult group. Cumulative food intake, visceral adiposity, liver weight, serum insulin, serum lipid profile, hepatic glycogen content, and liver protein expression of IRβ, phosphorylated IRβ, AKT, phosphorylated AKT, and PTP-1B in the basal state were similar between both age groups.

Conclusion

In a healthy metabolic condition, cinnamaldehyde supplementation affects glycemic metabolism in adolescent rats while promoting no changes in adult rats.

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Funding

The present study was supported by Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ; KJO, grant number E-26/210.341/2019; CCPM, grant number E-26/202.800/2018 and E-26/010.002429/2019). TGG and JGON were recipients of a FAPERJ fellowship. SKB, TBB, and RFM were recipients of a CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; Código de Financiamento 001) fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, 24210-130, Brazil

    Thaiane G. Gaique, Silvia K. Boechat, Jessika Geisebel O. Neto, Thais Bento-Bernardes, Renata F. Medeiros & Karen J. Oliveira

  2. Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Jessika Geisebel O. Neto & Carmen C. Pazos-Moura

Authors
  1. Thaiane G. Gaique
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  2. Silvia K. Boechat
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  3. Jessika Geisebel O. Neto
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  4. Thais Bento-Bernardes
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  5. Renata F. Medeiros
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  6. Carmen C. Pazos-Moura
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  7. Karen J. Oliveira
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Contributions

TGG: conception and design of the work; acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing — original draft preparation; approved the submitted version. SKB: conception and design of the work; acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; approved the submitted version. JGON: acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing — reviewing and editing; approved the submitted version. TBB: acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; Approved the submitted version. RFM: Acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; approved the submitted version. CCPM: funding acquisition; writing — reviewing and editing; approved the submitted version. KJO: funding acquisition; conception and design of the work; acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing — original draft preparation, reviewing and editing; approved the submitted version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen J. Oliveira.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The Institutional Animal Care Committee of Fluminense Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, approved our experimental protocols (#711/2015). This study follows the ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) (Percie du Sert N, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, et al (2020) The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. BMC Vet Res 16:242. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02451-y) and complies with the ethical guidelines set out by the Brazilian Association for Laboratory Animal Science.

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Gaique, T.G., Boechat, S.K., Neto, J.G.O. et al. Cinnamaldehyde supplementation acts as an insulin mimetic compound improving glucose metabolism during adolescence, but not during adulthood, in healthy male rats. Hormones 22, 295–304 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42000-023-00442-w

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