TY - GEN
T1 - Tropical seaweeds improve cardiovascular and metabolic health of diet-induced obese and hypertensive rats
AU - du Preez, Ryan
AU - Panchal, Sunil K.
AU - Brown, Lindsay
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - ![CDATA[Seaweeds have been an important part of the diet of coastal populations in Asia possibly for millennia but only a few scattered coastal communities in Europe and the Americas have maintained these traditions (Mouritsen et al, 2019). Our studies have investigated the potential of two tropical seaweeds grown commercially in Asia, Sarconema and Caulerpa spp., as functional foods for the reversal of metabolic syndrome and possible mechanisms. Sarconema spp. are a source of carrageenans used as thickening and gelling agents in foods while Caulerpa spp. are consumed in South-East Asia as low-energy foods with high contents of vitamins and minerals. For our studies, male Wistar rats were divided into groups in a 16-week protocol: corn starch diet-fed rats (C); C rats supplemented with 5% dried seaweed for the last 8 weeks; high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats (H); and H rats supplemented with 5% dried seaweed for the last 8 weeks. H rats developed obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, glucose intolerance, fatty liver and increased left ventricular collagen deposition, infiltration of inflammatory cells and plasma liver enzyme activities. Seaweed supplementation decreased body weight, abdominal and liver fat, systolic blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations, plasma activities of liver enzymes and collagen deposition. Further, seaweed supplementation modulated gut microbiota. Possible mechanisms for improved cardiovascular and metabolic health include a reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells into organs as well as an increased intake of fibre modulating gut microbiota composition.]]
AB - ![CDATA[Seaweeds have been an important part of the diet of coastal populations in Asia possibly for millennia but only a few scattered coastal communities in Europe and the Americas have maintained these traditions (Mouritsen et al, 2019). Our studies have investigated the potential of two tropical seaweeds grown commercially in Asia, Sarconema and Caulerpa spp., as functional foods for the reversal of metabolic syndrome and possible mechanisms. Sarconema spp. are a source of carrageenans used as thickening and gelling agents in foods while Caulerpa spp. are consumed in South-East Asia as low-energy foods with high contents of vitamins and minerals. For our studies, male Wistar rats were divided into groups in a 16-week protocol: corn starch diet-fed rats (C); C rats supplemented with 5% dried seaweed for the last 8 weeks; high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats (H); and H rats supplemented with 5% dried seaweed for the last 8 weeks. H rats developed obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, glucose intolerance, fatty liver and increased left ventricular collagen deposition, infiltration of inflammatory cells and plasma liver enzyme activities. Seaweed supplementation decreased body weight, abdominal and liver fat, systolic blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations, plasma activities of liver enzymes and collagen deposition. Further, seaweed supplementation modulated gut microbiota. Possible mechanisms for improved cardiovascular and metabolic health include a reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells into organs as well as an increased intake of fibre modulating gut microbiota composition.]]
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:59989
U2 - 10.3390/IECN2020-07011
DO - 10.3390/IECN2020-07011
M3 - Conference Paper
BT - Proceedings of the 1st International Electronic Conference on Nutrients - Nutritional and Microbiota Effects on Chronic Disease, Online, 2-15 November 2020
PB - MDPI
T2 - International Electronic Conference on Nutrients - Nutritional and Microbiota Effects on Chronic Disease
Y2 - 2 November 2020
ER -