Dietary Calanus oil recovers metabolic flexibility and rescues postischemic cardiac function in obese female mice

Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out whether dietary supplementation with Calanus oil (a novel marine oil) or infusion of exenatide (an incretin mimetic) could counteract obesity-induced alterations in myocardial metabolism and improve postischemic recovery of left ventricular (LV) function. Female C57bl/6J mice received high-fat diet (HFD, 45% energy from fat) for 12 wk followed by 8-wk feeding with nonsupplemented HFD, HFD supplemented with 2% Calanus oil, or HFD plus exenatide infusion (10 µg·kg−1·day−1). A lean control group was included, receiving normal chow throughout the whole period. Fatty acid and glucose oxidation was measured in ex vivo perfused hearts during baseline conditions, while LV function was assessed with an intraventricular fluid-filled balloon before and after 20 min of global ischemia. HFD-fed mice receiving Calanus oil or exenatide showed less intra-abdominal fat deposition than mice receiving nonsupplemented HFD. Both treatments prevented the HFD-induced decline in myocardial glucose oxidation. Somewhat surprising, recovery of LV function was apparently better in hearts from mice fed nonsupplemented HFD relative to hearts from mice fed normal chow. More importantly however, postischemic recovery of hearts from mice receiving HFD with Calanus oil was superior to that of mice receiving nonsupplemented HFD and mice receiving HFD with exenatide, as expressed by better pressure development, contractility, and relaxation properties. In summary, dietary Calanus oil and administration of exenatide counteracted obesity-induced derangements of myocardial metabolism. Calanus oil also protected the heart from ischemia, which could have implications for the prevention of obesity-related cardiac disease. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This article describes for the first time that dietary supplementation with a low amount (2%) of a novel marine oil (Calanus oil) in mice is able to prevent the overreliance of fatty acid oxidation for energy production during obesity. The same effect was observed with infusion of the incretin mimetic, exanatide. The improvement in myocardial metabolism in Calanus oil-treated mice was accompanied by a significantly better recovery of cardiac performance following ischemia-reperfusion. Listen to this article’s corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean.com/e/dietary-calanus-oil-energy-metabolism-and-cardiac-function/ .

Exercise Training Combined with Calanus Oil Supplementation Improves the Central Cardiodynamic Function in Older Women

“…One of the important contributors to the improvement in CO max in the ET-Calanus group might be the use of Calanus oil itself with its unique mixture of fatty acids bound to fatty alcohols in the chemical form of wax esters [ 20 , 22 ]. The molecular effects of Calanus compounds are not well-explored; however, its beneficial effects on inflammation and the cardiovascular system have been shown previously in mice [ 18 , 19 , 36 ]. Notably, two important components of Calanus oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have known effects on inflammation and oxidative stress [ 37 , 38 ], which are thought to underlie the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease through the induction of DNA damage and protein fragmentation and dysfunction [ 39 ].…”

“…Calanus oil is a relatively new dietary supplement of omega-3 FA, and its positive anti-inflammatory and cardiometabolic effects have been reported in mice [ 18 ]. Furthermore, Calanus oil restored cardiac metabolic flexibility and improved the recovery of the cardiac function following an ischemia in mice on a high-fat diet [ 19 ]. Calanus oil is extracted from planktonic Calanus finmarchius [ 20 ], representing probably the largest source of omega-3 FA on the planet.…”

Possible Health Effects of a Wax Ester Rich Marine Oil

“…Feeding experiments on rodents, however, have shown that dietary supplementation with only 1% to 2% calanus oil improved metabolic and inflammatory parameters in high-fat diet-induced obese mice (Höper et al, 2013;Höper et al, 2014). The oil has also been reported to attenuate atherosclerotic lesion formation (Eilertsen et al, 2012), reduce hypertension (Salma et al, 2016), and protect the heart from ischemic stress (Jansen et al, 2019). Results from Höper et al (2014) indicated that supplementation of the diet with purified wax ester has stronger anti-inflammatory and anti-obesogenic effects in dietinduced obese mice, compared to ethyl esters of EPA and DHA.…”

Diet-induced obese mouse hearts tolerate an acute high-fatty acid exposure that also increases ischemic tolerance

“…Futhermore, clinical studies have shown paradoxical and favorable effects of obesity on the outcome of acute coronary syndrome (3,11), and studies using animal models of obesity and diabetes have reported both decreased (16,34), unchanged (26,33,53), and even increased (13,15,29,30,51) ischemic tolerance. The discrepancies in preclinical studies could partly be due to differences in the severity of the metabolic disease in these models (44,46,51,53); however, it does not seem to be the sole explanation (15,26,52), and differences in perfusion conditions may therefore also play a role.…”