Beneficial effects of a plant-fish oil, slow carbohydrate diet on cardio-metabolic health exceed the correcting effects of metformin-pioglitazone in diabetic pigs fed a fast-food diet

Sietse J. Koopmans*, Heleen M.M. van Beusekom, F. Josef van der Staay, Gisabeth Binnendijk, Marcel Hulst, Zlaw Mroz, Mariette T. Ackermans, Lambertus Benthem

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Background Lifestyle influences endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular homeostasis. This study investigated the impact of diet and oral anti-diabetic medication on cardio-metabolic health in human-sized diabetic pigs. Methods After a growing pre-phase from ~30 to ~69 kg during which domestic pigs were fed either a low fat, low sucrose diet (group A) or a fast food-type diet elevated in lard (15%) and sucrose (40%) (group B), the pigs were subdivided in 5 groups (n = 7–8 pigs per group). Group 1, normal pigs from group A on a low fat, low sugar (L) pig diet and group 2, normal pigs from group B on a high lard (25%), sucrose-fructose (40%), cholesterol (1%) fast food-type (F) diet. Diabetes (D) was induced in group B pigs by streptozotocin and group 3 received the F diet (DF), group 4 received the F diet with Anti-diabetic medication metformin (2 g.day-1)pioglitazone (40 mg.day-1) (DFA) and group 5 switched to a Plant-Fish oil (25%), Slowly digestible starch (40%) diet (DPFS). The F and PFS diets were identical for fat, carbohydrate and protein content but only differed in fat and carbohydrate composition. The 5 pig groups were followed up for 7 weeks until reaching ~120 kg. Results In normal pigs, the F diet predisposed to several abnormalities related to metabolic syndrome. Diabetes amplified the inflammatory and cardiometabolic abnormalities of the F diet, but both oral FA medication and the PFS diet partially corrected these abnormalities (mean ±SEM) as follows: Fasting plasma TNF-α (pg.ml-1) and NEFA (mmol.l-1) concentrations were high (p<0.02) in DF (193±55 and 0.79±0.16), intermediate in DFA (136±40 and 0.57 ±012) and low in DPFS pigs (107±31 and 0.48±0.19). Meal intolerance (response over fasting) for glucose and triglycerides (area under the curve, mmol.h-1) and for lactate (3-h postprandial, mmol.l-1) was high (p<0.03) in DF (489±131, 8.6±4.8 and 2.2±0.6), intermediate in DFA (276±145, 1.4±1.1 and 1.6±0.4) and low in DPFS (184±62, 0.7±1.8 and 0.1±0.1). Insulin-mediated glucose disposal (mg.kg-1.min-1) showed a numerical trend (p = NS): low in DF (6.9±2.2), intermediate in DFA (8.2±1.3) and high in DPFS pigs (10.4±2.7). Liver weight (g. kg-1 body weight) and liver triglyceride concentration (g.kg-1 liver) were high (p<0.001) in DF (23.8±2.0 and 69±14), intermediate in DFA (21.1±2.0 and 49±15) and low in DPFS pigs (16.4±0.7 and 13±2.0). Aorta fatty streaks were high (p<0.01) in DF (16.4±5.7%), intermediate in DFA (7.4±4.5%) and low in DPFS pigs (0.05±0.02%). Conclusion This translational study using pigs with induced type 2 diabetes provides evidence that a change in nutritional life style from fast food to a plant-fish oil, slowly digestible starch diet can be more effective than sole anti-diabetic medication.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0257299
Number of pages24
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume16
Issue number10 October 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding: Inorbit Therapeutics AB did not play a role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript and did not provide financial support in the form of authors' salaries and/or research materials. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Senter-Novem of The Netherlands provided support in the form of salaries for authors [SJK, FJS, GB, MH, ZM, MTA] and/or research materials, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of the authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Koopmans et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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