Journal Article

Hawthorn fruit extract reduced trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO)-exacerbated atherogenesis in mice via anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation

Chen, Zhen-Yu, Hao, Wangjun, Ma, Ka Ying, Zhu, Hanyue, Kwek, Erika, Liu, Jianhui, He, Zouyan

2021

Overview

Background Trimethylamine- N -oxide (TMAO) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Consumption of hawthorn fruit is believed to be cardio-protective, yet whether it is able to suppress the TMAO-induced atherosclerosis remains unexplored. The present study was to investigate the effects of hawthorn fruit extract (HFE) on TMAO-exacerbated atherogenesis. Methods Five groups of male Apolipoprotein E knock-out (ApoE −/− ) mice were fed a low-fat diet (LFD), a Western high-fat diet (WD), or one of the three WDs containing 0.2% TMAO (WD + TMAO), 0.2% TMAO plus 1% HFE (WD + TMAO + L-HFE), or 0.2% TMAO plus 2% HFE (WD + TMAO + H-HFE), respectively. After 12-weeks of intervention, plasma levels of TMAO, lipid profile, inflammatory biomarkers, and antioxidant enzyme activities were measured. Atherosclerotic lesions in the thoracic aorta and aortic sinus were evaluated. The sterols and fatty acids in the liver and feces were extracted and measured. Hepatic expressions of inflammatory biomarkers and antioxidant enzymes were analyzed. Results Dietary TMAO accelerated atherogenesis, exacerbated inflammation, and reduced antioxidant capacities in the plasma and the liver. TMAO promoted hepatic cholesterol accumulation by inhibiting fecal excretion of acidic sterols. HFE could dose-dependently reduce the TMAO-aggravated atherosclerosis and inflammation. HFE was also able to reverse the TMAO-induced reduction in antioxidant capacity by up-regulating the expression of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), SOD2, glutathione peroxidase 3 (GSH-Px3), and catalase (CAT) in the liver. Moreover, the hepatic cholesterol content was lowered by HFE via enhanced fecal excretion of neutral and acidic sterols. Conclusions The present results indicated that HFE was able to reduce the TMAO-exacerbated atherogenesis by attenuating inflammation and improving antioxidant capacity at least in mice. Graphic abstract

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Analysis / Antioxidant / antioxidant activity / antioxidant enzymes / Antioxidants / Aorta / Apolipoprotein E / Arteriosclerosis / Atherogenesis / Atherosclerosis / Biomarkers / Catalase / Cholesterol / Chromatography / Clinical Nutrition / Coronary vessels / Crataegus / Diet / Enzymatic activity / Enzymes / Ethanol / Excretion / Fatty acids / feces / fruit extracts / Fruits / Gene expression / Glutathione peroxidase / Hawthorn fruit extract / Hawthorns / High fat diet / Inflammation / Kinases / Laboratory animals / lipid composition / Liver / Low fat diet / males / Materia medica, Vegetable / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Metabolic Diseases / metabolism / Nutrient deficiency / Oxidation / Oxidative stress / Plant extracts / Plasma / Plasma levels / Properties / Proteins / Risk factors / Sterols / Superoxide dismutase / Thorax / Trimethylamine-N-oxide / Tumor necrosis factor-TNF