Maternal N-Acetyl Cysteine Intake Improved Glucose Tolerance in Obese Mice Offspring

Abstract

Exposure to certain environmental factors during the early stages of development was found to affect health in adulthood. Among other environmental factors, oxidative stress has been suggested to be involved in fetal programming, leading to elevated risk for metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes; however, the possibility that antioxidant consumption during early life may affect the development of diabetes has scarcely been studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) given during pregnancy and lactation on the susceptibility of offspring to develop glucose intolerance at adulthood. C57bl6/J mice were given NAC during pregnancy and lactation. High fat diet (HFD) was given to offspring at an age of 6 weeks for an additional 9 weeks, till the end of the study. Isolated islets of NAC-treated offspring (6 weeks old, before HFD feeding) had an increased efficacy of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and a higher resistance to oxidative damage. Following HFD feeding, glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity of NAC-treated offspring were improved. In addition, islet diameter was lower in male offspring of NAC-treated mice compared to their HFD-fed littermates. NAC consumption during early life improves glucose tolerance in adulthood in mice.

Inherited stress resiliency prevents the development of metabolic alterations in diet‐induced obese mice

“…Of note, females were relatively resilient to HFD‐induced metabolic abnormalities, as has been shown before [24], independent of their stress response characteristics. Whereas the metabolic resiliency of female mice is presumably attributed to the protective effects of estrogen [25], testosterone levels might determine the differences between male Sub and Dom mice [26].…”

NAC Supplementation of Hyperglycemic Rats Prevents the Development of Insulin Resistance and Improves Antioxidant Status but Only Alleviates General and Salivary Gland Oxidative Stress

“…For five days from the moment the rats arrived in the animal research facility, they were fed granulated diet type LSM (Agropol, Motycz, Poland) of the following composition: 10.3% fats, 24.2% proteins, and 65.5% carbohydrates. After five days, the rats were divided into two equal groups as follows: Control group (C, n = 20): rats receiving standard LSM diet (Agropol, Motycz, Poland) containing 10.3% fats, 24.2% proteins, and 65.5% carbohydrates HFD group ( n = 20): a group of rats fed high-fat diet (Research Diet, USA, catalog number D12492) containing 59.8% fats, 20.1% proteins, and 20.1% carbohydrates [ 4 ] …”

“…HFD group ( n = 20): a group of rats fed high-fat diet (Research Diet, USA, catalog number D12492) containing 59.8% fats, 20.1% proteins, and 20.1% carbohydrates [ 4 ]…”

Akt Signaling and Nitric Oxide Synthase as Possible Mediators of the Protective Effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine in Prediabetes Induced by Sucrose

“…Therefore, it is interesting to speculate that the enhancement of the P-eNOS level shown by NAC-treated animals could be a positive feature related to a possible preventive effect on insulin-resistant states. In accordance with NAC improvement of insulin sensitivity, Michlin et al [31] recently demonstrated that the maternal administration of NAC during pregnancy and lactation improves glucose tolerance of offspring at adulthood. Isolated islets of NAC-treated offspring (6 weeks old, before high fat diet feeding) had an increased efficacy of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and a higher resistance to oxidative damage.…”