Insulin Resistance and Obesity Affect Lipid Profile in the Salivary Glands

Abstract

In today's world wrong nutritional habits together with a low level of physical activity have given rise to the development of obesity and its comorbidity, insulin resistance. More specifically, many researches indicate that lipids are vitally involved in the onset of a peripheral tissue (e.g., skeletal muscle, heart, and liver) insulin resistance. Moreover, it seems that diabetes can also induce changes in respect of lipid composition of both the salivary glands and saliva. However, judging by the number of research articles, the salivary glands lipid profile still has not been sufficiently explored. In the current study we aim to assess the changes in the main lipid fractions, namely, triacylglycerols, phospholipids, free fatty acids, and diacylglycerols, in the parotid and the submandibular salivary glands of rats exposed to a 5-week high fat diet regimen. We observed that the high caloric fat diet caused a significant change in the salivary glands lipid composition, especially with respect to PH and TG, but not DAG or FFAs, classes. The observed reduction in PH concentration is an interesting phenomenon frequently signifying the atrophy and malfunctions in the saliva secreting organs. On the other hand, the increased accumulation of TG in the glands may be an important clinical manifestation of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

High-Fat Diet Affects Ceramide Content, Disturbs Mitochondrial Redox Balance, and Induces Apoptosis in the Submandibular Glands of Mice

“…After 8 weeks of the study we observed a 30% increase in body weight, a nearly 100% increase in insulin content, and a 70% increase in the concentration of glucose. We also noted that HFD led to IR, as confirmed by 200% increase in HOMA-IR, which is consistent with our results as well as those of other researchers [6,16,19,42,43].…”

“…Lipid accumulation has also been observed in salivary glands. Matczuk et al [6] showed that IR induced by chronic feeding with high-fat diet results in altered lipid fractions of salivary glands. These changes were expressed differently depending on the salivary gland type.…”

“…The authors believe that the reduction of phospholipid concentration in salivary glands may be associated with their atrophy and reduced saliva secretion in the course of IR. However, the accumulation of the triacylglycerol fraction in submandibular glands is most probably a reflection of systemic disorders in lipid metabolism, observed in chronic implementation of high-fat diet [6].…”

Association Between Early Childhood Caries And Malnutrition In A Sub-Urban Population In Nigeria

“…Also, children with ECC have high levels of proinflammatory cytokines [7], which trigger a cascade of inflammatory processes [8] associated with impaired growth and obesity inducing mechanisms [9]. Obesity and stunting also cause changes in the salivary glands and the composition of saliva, which increases the risk for ECC by lowering salivary pH [10].…”

Dysfunction of Salivary Glands, Disturbances in Salivary Antioxidants and Increased Oxidative Damage in Saliva of Overweight and Obese Adolescents

“…In recent years, we have observed a steady growth in the frequency of overweight and obesity, observed not only among adults, but also children and adolescents [2]. This results from various genetic, environmental and economic (easy access to cheap and highly calorific food) factors as well as evolutionary conditioning (sedentary lifestyle, low physical activity, low energy expenditure) [1,3]. According to the latest WHO report, nearly 41 million children under 5 years of age are overweight or obese [4].…”