Nutrición Hospitalaria ISSN: 0212-1611 info@nutriciónhospitalaria.com Grupo Aula Médica España Vieira de Melo, Ingrid Sofia; da Rocha Ataide, Terezinha; Lima de Oliveira, Suzana; Bezerra Bueno, Nassib; Duarte de Freitas, Johnnatan; Goulart Sant’Ana, Antônio Euzébio Hepatic fatty acid profile of rats fed a triheptanoin-based ketogenic diet Nutrición Hospitalaria, vol. 32, núm. 1, 2015, pp. 265-269 Grupo Aula Médica Madrid, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=309239661038 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Nutr Hosp. 2015;32(1):265-269 ISSN 0212-1611 • CODEN NUHOEQ S.V.R. 318 Original / Investigación animal Hepatic fatty acid profile of rats fed a triheptanoin-based ketogenic diet Ingrid Sofia Vieira de Melo1, Terezinha da Rocha Ataide2, Suzana Lima de Oliveira2, Nassib Bezerra Bueno2, Johnnatan Duarte de Freitas3 and Antônio Euzébio Goulart Sant’Ana4 1Departamento de Agroindústria, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Alagoas, Murici, AL. 2Laboratório de Nutrição Experimental, Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL. 3Departamento de Tecnologia de Alimentos, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Alagoas, Maceió - AL. 4Laboratório de Recursos Naturais, Instituto de Química e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brasil. Abstract PERFIL DE ÁCIDOS GRASOS DE HÍGADOS DE RATONES ALIMENTADOS CON UNA DIETA Objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the in- CETOGÉNICA BASADA EN TRIHEPTANOÍNA fluence of consumption of a ketogenic diet supplemented with triheptanoin, a medium-chain anaplerotic triacyl- glycerol, on the liver fatty acid profile of Wistar rats. Resumen Methods: three groups of male Wistar rats (n = 10) Objetivo: el objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la in- were submitted to an AIN-93 control diet, a trihepta- fluencia del consumo de una dieta cetogénica complemen- noin-based ketogenic diet, or a soybean oil-based keto- tada con triheptanoína, un triacilglicerol de cadena media genic diet for 60 days. Excised livers were subjected to y anaplerótico, en el perfil de ácidos grasos del hígado de lipid extraction and methylation to obtain fatty acids ratones Wistar. methyl esters, which were subjected to gas chromatogra- Métodos: tres grupos de ratones Wistar machos (n = 10) phy-mass spectrometry. fueron sometidos durante 60 días a una dieta AIN-93 de Results and discussion: compared to the rats fed the control, una dieta cetogénica basada en triheptanoína o una control diet, those fed ketogenic diets showed a signifi- dieta cetogénica a base de aceite de soja. Los hígados fueron cant reduction in the concentrations of 9-hexadecenoic escindidos y sometidos a extracción de lípidos y metilación and 9-octadecenoic acids, whereas those fed triheptanoin para obtener los ésteres metílicos de ácidos grasos, que se showed increased levels of octadecanoic acid. sometieron a cromatografía de gas-espectrometría de masa. Conclusion: changes in the liver fatty acid profiles of Resultados y discusión: en comparación con los ratones the rats fed a triheptanoin-based or a soybean oil-based alimentados con la dieta de control, los de ambas dietas ce- ketogenic diet did not seem to be related to the dietary fat togénicas mostraron una reducción significativa en las con- source, but rather to the characteristics of the ketogenic centraciones de los ácidos grasos 9-hexadecenoico y 9-octa- diets themselves. decenoico, mientras que los alimentados con triheptanoína (Nutr Hosp. 2015;32:265-269) mostraron niveles de ácido octadecenoico aumentados. Conclusión: los cambios en los perfiles de ácidos grasos DOI:10.3305/nh.2015.32.1.9033 del hígado de los ratones alimentados con dietas cetogénicas Key words: Fatty acid profile. Ketogenic diet. Me- no están relacionados con la fuente de grasa de la dieta (tri- dium-chain triacylglycerols. Trienantin. heptanoína o aceite de soja), sino más bien con la concentra- ción total de lípidos. (Nutr Hosp. 2015;32:265-269) DOI:10.3305/nh.2015.32.1.9033 Palabras clave: Ratones Wistar. Triheptanoína. Ácidos grasos. Abbreviations FA: Fatty Acids. MCT: Medium-Chain Triacylglycerols. Correspondence: Ingrid Sofia Vieira de Melo. SCD1: Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase-1. Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Alagoas. Campus Murici, Conjunto Residencial Astolfo Lopes, s/n. Cidade Alta, Murici- AL. CEP 57820-000, Brasil. Introduction E-mail: [email protected] Recibido: 4-IV-2015. The ketogenic diet is a feasible therapy for indivi- Aceptado: 24-IV-2015. duals with epilepsy; however, it has poor tolerability, 265 038_9033 Perfil de acidos grasos.indd 265 12/06/15 16:21 and alternative therapies are being continuously inves- nal’s position on issues involved in ethical publication tigated1. The ketogenic diet rich in medium-chain tria- and our report is consistent with these guidelines. cylglycerols (MCTs), is widely used, and is an equally Weaned male albino Wistar rats (n=30), weighing effective variant of the classical ketogenic diet, becau- 33.46 ± 5.7 g (mean ± standard deviation) were ob- se it maintains ketosis despite the higher content of tained from the Federal University of Alagoas, Bra- carbohydrates2. zil, and were housed in individual cages at a tempe- Traditionally, MCTs with even-chain fatty acids rature of 20–24°C under a controlled light-dark cycle (FAs) were used in dietary therapies, because they are (12h/12h). The animals were fed with diet and water commonly found in nature; however, MCTs with odd- ad libitum for 6 weeks, including the initial adaptation chain FAs, such as triheptanoin, are more effective for period of 1 week. some disorders than the traditional therapy, notably because of its anaplerotic properties3. Experimental studies have shown the effectiveness of triheptanoin4,5; Diet and treatments accordingly, triheptanoin has recently been suggested for inclusion in the dietary therapy of epilepsy6. A re- The animals were divided into 3 groups as follows: cent study found that rats treated with pilocarpine in a Control (AIN-93G; 7g soybean oil/100g diet16), Ke- triheptanoin-based ketogenic diet needed to undergo a toTAGC7 (triheptanoin-based ketogenic diet; 40g higher number of seizures to develop status epilepti- margarine, 4g of soybean oil, and 25.79g trihepta- cus, a marker of the establishment of epilepsy, as com- noin/100g diet), and KetoTAGsoy (soybean oil-based pared to the control group7. ketogenic diet; 40g margarine and 29.79g of soybean Triheptanoin is a synthetic MCT consisting of 3 oil/100g diet; Table I). Margarine was used to achieve heptanoic acid (C7:0) molecules and has excellent consistency and to ensure uniformity of the ketogenic anaplerotic properties8. Few studies have described the diets. safety and tolerability of chronic consumption of tri- The ingredients used in preparing the diets were heptanoin. In humans, there are some clinical trials in provided by Rhoster (São Paulo, Brazil). Triheptanoin children with mitochondrial disorders9,3. Also, experi- was purchased from Stéarinerie Dubois (Boulogne-Bi- mental tests showed that compared to ingestion of soy- llancourt, France). Margarine, soybean oil, and corn bean oil, in normal or ketogenic proportions, ingestion starch were purchased from a local market. of triheptanoin has no adverse effect in terms of weight gain, and the results of blood biochemical analysis and histological analysis were normal10,11,12. Euthanasia of animals and liver removal Nevertheless, dietary FA composition plays a cru- cial role in human health, and the repercussion of any After 6 weeks, the animals were fasted overnight, novel dietary fat source must be investigated13. In par- were intraperitoneally injected with an anesthetic so- ticular, dietary fat may induce important modifications lution of urethane + chloralose (1000 mg/kg + 40 mg/ in the membrane FA composition of several tissues, kg), and were euthanized by cervical dislocation fo- including the liver, which may cause important meta- llowed by complete opening of the abdominal cavity bolic alterations14. Hepatic FA composition is a deter- and liver resection. The left lobe of the liver was sec- minant for insulin sensitivity that acts independently tioned, and a fragment was frozen in liquid nitrogen of cellular energy balance and stress15. In this study, we and stored at -80°C. evaluated the influence of dietary triheptanoin, in ke- togenic proportions, on the hepatic FA profile of rats. Lipid extraction and methylation Objective Extraction of lipids from the liver was performed using organic solvents according to the method by The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence Folch et al. (1957)17. The lipidic extracts of the li- of consumption of a ketogenic diet supplemented with vers and lipidic mixture of the diets were subjected to triheptanoin, a medium-chain anaplerotic triacylglyce- methylation with boron trifluoride (BF3) in methanol rol, on the liver fatty acid profile of Wistar rats. (20%). The reaction mixture was placed on a heating plate at 40°C and shaken for 30 h. Methods Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis Animals The FA methyl esters were analyzed by gas chroma- The use of animals was approved by the Research tography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using a Shima- Ethics Committee