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. 2024 Feb:184:114340.
doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2023.114340. Epub 2023 Dec 12.

Epigallocatechin-gallate attenuates rapamycin exacerbated high fat diet-induced autophagy, hormonal dysregulation, testicular and brain oxidative stress, and neurochemical changes in rats

Chinedu Charles Onyekweli  1 , Benneth Ben-Azu  2 , O Mega Oyovwi  3 , E Kingsley Nwangwa  4 , I Simon Ovuakporaye  1 , Goodies Emuesiri Moke  5 , Ejime Agbonifo-Chijiokwu  1 , B Oghenetega Onome  6 , Victor Emojevwe  7 , A Rume Rotu  8
Affiliations

Epigallocatechin-gallate attenuates rapamycin exacerbated high fat diet-induced autophagy, hormonal dysregulation, testicular and brain oxidative stress, and neurochemical changes in rats

Chinedu Charles Onyekweli et al. Food Chem Toxicol. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

This study investigated whether epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG) could counteract the detrimental effects of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in rats exposed to rapamycin-induced reproductive and neuronal changes. Six rats per treatment group (n = 6) were utilized, in which groups 1 and 2 had dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) (0.1%) and EGCG (80 mg/kg) respectively. Group 3 received HFD + 0.1% DMSO daily for 56 days. Group 4 received HFD + rapamycin (1 mg/kg) orally for 56 days. Rats in group 5 received HFD for 56 days and EGCG (80 mg/kg, p.o.) from days 29-56. Group 6 received the combination of HFD + rapamycin (56 days) with EGCG (80 mg/kg) from days 29-56. Cognitive loss was assessed using Y-maze-test (YMT). Afterwards, serum sex hormones, insulin-glucose balance, serotonin concentration, acetylcholinesterase activity, sperm features, antioxidants, and the markers of oxido-nitrergic, autophagy and apoptotic mediators were assessed. EGCG reversed rapamycin exacerbated HFD-induced alterations in spermatogenesis, insulin-glucose balance, reproductive hormones, oxido-nitrergic stress, and altered serotonin, acetylcholinesterase levels, and autophagic and apoptotic activities in rats' testes and brains respectively. EGCG significantly attenuated HFD-induced cognitive loss. The study showed that EGCG attenuated rapamycin-mediated HFD-induced spermatogenesis deficiency and cognitive impairment via normalization of reproductive hormones, testicular and brain oxidative stress, apoptotic, autophagic activities, with serotonin and cholinergic levels in rats.

Keywords: Depression; Epigallocatechin-gallate; High-fat diets; Oxidative stress; Serotonin; Sex hormones; Spermatogenesis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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