Intermittent Fasting Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Induced Cerebellar Changes in Rats: Involvement of TNF-α, Autophagy, and Oxidative Stress.

Obesity has become a prevalent global health issue, and recently it has been reported to be intimately associated with neuronal health. Obesity triggers peripheral inflammatory responses concomitant with neuroinflammation, elevated oxidative stress, and compromised autophagy. Intermittent fasting (IF) positively influences lowering body weight and improving the metabolic changes accompanying obesity. IF also has a beneficial impact on neuronal function; however, no studies have discussed this effect on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced cerebellar damage. This study examines the effect of IF on the cerebellum of HFD-fed rats. Male Wister Albino rats (n = 16) were fed HFD for 16 weeks (HFD group); half of them were subjected to IF alternating with HFD for 6 weeks starting at the 11th week till the end of the experiment (fasting + HFD group). The control group of rats (n = 8) was kept on a basal diet. The animals were euthanized after 16 weeks. Their tissue was harvested and processed for morphology using H&E, cresyl violet, and luxol fast stains, and immunohistochemical staining was carried out for inflammatory marker (TNF-α), gliosis marker (GFAP), and autophagy markers (LC3 II and P62). Oxidative stress markers (SOD, MDA) were measured, and protein expression of phosphorylated-AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) and phosphorylated-rapamycin complex (p-mTOR) in cerebellar tissue was detected via western blotting. IF mitigated HFD-induced cerebellar morphological changes, reduced cerebellar TNF-α expression, decreased oxidative stress markers, and balanced p-AMPK and p-mTOR with autophagy improvement. Moreover, a decrease in body weight and ameliorated obesity-induced metabolic changes in the serum levels of glucose, insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride were seen. These observations suggest that IF can improve both peripheral and central changes prompted by HFD through attenuating inflammation, oxidative stress, and reestablishing the autophagy balance.

Independent of Calorie Intake, Short-term Alternate-day Fasting Alleviates NASH, With Modulation of Markers of Lipogenesis, Autophagy, Apoptosis, and Inflammation in Rats.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a worldwide health problem. Alternate-day fasting (ADF), although thought to be aggressive, has proven safety and efficacy. We aimed to evaluate the effect of short-term ADF against already established high-fat-fructose (HFF)-induced NASH, independent of the amount of calorie intake, and to study the effect of ADF on lipogenesis, apoptosis, and hepatic inflammation. Male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups: (1) negative control and (2) NASH group fed on HFF for 9 weeks, and then randomized into two subgroups of either HFF alone or with ADF protocol for 3 weeks. The ADF could improve HFF-related elevation in serum lactate dehydrogenase and could decrease the mRNA expression of lipogenesis genes; acetyl CoA carboxylase, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α; apoptotic genes caspase-3, p53, and inflammatory cyclo-oxygenase 2; and immunohistochemical staining for their proteins in liver with upregulation of LC3 and downregulation of P62 immunoexpression. Moreover, ADF ameliorated HFF-induced steatosis, inflammation, ballooning, and fibrosis through hematoxylin and eosin, Oil Red O, and Sirius Red staining, confirmed by morphometric analysis, without significant weight loss. Significant correlation of morphometric parameters with levels of gene expression was found. These findings suggest ADF to be a safe effective therapeutic agent in the management of NASH.

Effect of cerebrolysin on the cerebellum of diabetic rats: An imunohistochemical study.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus represents one of the disorders in the metabolism that affects all body systems including CNS. Cerebrolysin contains many neurotrophic factors, and many studies reported that it can be used treatment of many neurological disorders. AIM OF THE WORK: The aim of the current study was to study the potential neuroprotective effect of cerebrolysin on the cerebellum of diabetic rat. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sprague Dawley male rats were divided randomly into four groups: control, cerebrolysin (Cbl), diabetes and diabetes treated with Cbl groups. Induction of diabetes was performed by intraperitoneal injection of 60mg/kg streptozotocin once. Eight weeks later, the rats were anaesthetized, sacrificed and the cerebellum was removed. Cerebellum oxidative stress markers were analysis. Cerebellar tissue was subjected to histolopathological examination and immune-histological assessment of GFAP and Synaptophysin. RESULTS: As compared to the control group, diabetes caused degenerative changes in the cerebellum with significant elevation of MDA and decrease of SOD levels and gliosis confirmed by increase the GFAP expression area fraction. Diabetes increased significantly the optical density of synaptophysin expression with increase in its area fraction in the granular layer. Although Cbl treatment succeeded in minimizing the changes in the oxidative stress markers, it had no effect on pathological changes of the diabetic cerebellum. Cerebrolysin treatment of diabetic rats decreased the area fraction of GFAP positive immunoreactivity and had no effect on synaptophysin expression. CONCLUSION: Cerebrolysin can potentially protect against diabetes induced changes in the cerebellum through minimizing the oxidative stress and improving the gliosis.