Cocoa intake attenuates renal injury in Zucker Diabetic fatty rats by improving glucose homeostasis

Abstract

Glucotoxicity (high levels of glucose) is a major factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease. Cocoa has anti-diabetic effects by lowering glucose levels. However, whether cocoa exerts beneficial effects on the renal cortex glucose homeostasis and the molecular mechanisms responsible for this possible protective activity remain largely unknown. Thus, the potential anti-diabetic properties of cocoa on insulin signalling, glucose transporters and gluconeogenic enzymes were evaluated in the renal cortex of Zucker Diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats. Male ZDF rats were fed a control or cocoa-rich diet (10%), and Zucker Lean animals received the control diet. ZDF rats supplemented with cocoa (ZDF-Co) showed decreased body weight gain, glucose and insulin levels, improved glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and structural alterations in renal cortex. Moreover, cocoa-rich diet ameliorated insulin resistance by reverting decreased tyrosine-phosphorylated-insulin receptor levels and by preventing the inactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3/glycogen synthase pathway (GSK-3/GS) in the renal cortex of ZDF-Co rats. Cocoa antihyperglycaemic effect also appeared to be mediated through the diminution of phosphoenolpyruvate-carboxykinase (PEPCK), glucose-6phosphatase (G-6-Pase), sodium-glucose-co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2), and glucosetransporter-2 (GLUT-2) levels in ZDF-Co rat´s renal cortex. These findings demonstrate that cocoa alleviates renal injury by contributing to maintain the glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetic ZDF rats.

Effect of Insulin on Proximal Tubules Handling of Glucose: A Systematic Review

“…Reports of SGLT1 protein [80,84,103] and mRNA [83-85, 92, 93, 98] contents in PTs of T1D murine models are also contradictory while in T2D models only mRNA expression seems to be upregulated [22,90,92,98,100,[103][104][105][106]. SGLT2 has been studied in many models of diabetes, and the results suggest increased protein [32,67,84,85,90,94,99,[107][108][109][110][111] and mRNA [22,32,83,85,100,104,[106][107][108][109]112] contents and activity [108] despite some controversial results [85,93,98,100,105,113].…”

Effects of Raw and Roasted Cocoa Bean Extracts Supplementation on Intestinal Enzyme Activity, Biochemical Parameters, and Antioxidant Status in Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet

“…This possibility was also indicated in the study conducted by Álvarez-Cilleros et al [30] where cocoa intake modified the gut bacterial composition towards a healthier profile of microbiota in diabetic rats [30]. The authors suggested that alterations in the gut microbiota improve glucose homeostasis and this phenomenon could be associated with the potential anti-obesity mechanisms of cocoa polyphenols include improvement glucose homeostasis and gut health [30,31].…”

“…Animal rodent models are considered useful tools for studying dietary obesity as they readily gain weight when fed high-fat diets [29]. Previous studies of animals and humans have suggested that cocoa intake could be related to the decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. Our recent study also showed that raw and roasted cocoa beans extracts (CBEs) as well as purified monomeric flavan-3-ols fraction isolated from them differently affected the activity of cecal enzymes and the content of volatile fatty acids in the gut but would not significantly affect the hematological parameters of rats fed a high-fat and low-fiber diet [40].…”

Effect of maternal and postnatal cocoa supplementation on testicles of adult Wistar rats

“…Such an effect could be the result of soluble fibers as well as flavonoids found in cocoa. 25,26 In addition, cocoa is rich in a number of saturated fatty acids, including palmitic acid and stearic acid, which may have contributed to increased serum TC and LDL-c levels. [27][28][29] Fig.…”