In vitro and in vivo anti-obesity effects of carob and wakame combination

Resumen del póster presentado al 25th European Congress on Obesity, celebrado en Viena (Austria) del 23 al 26 de mayo de 2018.[Introduction]: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) encompasses a constellation of several risk factors including hyperglycemia, raised blood pressure, dyslipidemia and visceral obesity that predispose to the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In the last years, this syndrome is becoming one of the most important health concerns due to its rising prevalence. The purpose was to analyse the triglyceride-lowering effect of extracts from Ceratonia siliqua L. (carob fruit) and Undaria pinnatifida (wakame seaweed) in 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes and the anti-obesity potential of effective combinations in dietetic obese Wistar rats in order to ameliorate the MetS. [Methods]: 3T3-L1 mature adipocytes were treated during 24 h with carob`s pod (10, 50 and 100 mg/mL) and wakame (1 and 10 mg/mL) methanolic extracts and their combination. Triglycerides (Tg) content was quantified by commercial kits. Forty adult male Wistar rats were fed with a commercial high-fat high-fructose diet for 8 weeks in order to generate the MetS. After this period, ten animals were sacrificed (MetS group) and the rest were divided into 3 groups. All groups were fed with a semi-purified adequate-calorie diet for 4 additional weeks. The groups were the control group (C), two snack groups where all the complex carbohydrates of the diet were replaced by a snack formulation with combination of 1/50 (1/50 group) or 1/5 of wakame/carob pod (1/5 group). At the end of experimental period, animals were sacrificed and liver and adipose depots were dissected and weighed. Total Tg content was measured by commercial kits. [Results]: The reduction of the Tg content in cell culture was effective at the dose of 100 mg/mL of carob (28% of reduction) as well as 1 and 10 mg/mL of wakame (21% and 25% of reduction respectively). Similarly, combinations of 1/5 and 1/50 of wakame/carob decreased Tg content in 27% and 36% respectively. Considering these results, the in vivo experiment was carried out with these two combinations. In the in vivo experiment, none of them was effective reducing the white adipose tissue weight. However, snack inclusion in the adequate-calorie diet (1/5 and 1/50 groups) diminished liver weight comparing with MetS group. This effect was due to a decrease in Tg content (53±5, 34±3 and 32±3 mg/g of tissue for MetS, 1/50 and 1/5 groups, respectively). [Conclusion]: The 1/5 and 1/50 combinations of wakame and carob`s pod in snack formulation showed in vitro and in vivo fat-lowering properties and they can be proposed as useful functional ingredients to reduce the metabolic syndrome.This study has been supported by INIA: RTA2014-0037-C02.Peer Reviewe