Avaliação do estresse oxidativo em modelos de plasticidade ontogenética: papel do resveratrol

Abstract

Obesity, a multifactorial disease with increased prevalence in different regions in the world, is generally associated with a deregulated adipocytokines production, increased oxidative stress and the occurrence of metabolic disorders such as dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance and hypertension. The Metabolic Programming or Developmental Plasticity has been proposed as important factor in the etiology of obesity. This phenomenon suggests that dietary changes, hormonal and environmental factors during critical periods of development, such as pregnancy and lactation can alter the physiology and metabolism of an organism causing the development of metabolic disorders at adulthood. In this work, we studied two models of developmental plasticity in Wistar rats, which programmed for obesity at adulthood: overnutrition during lactation and early weaning. Overnutrition during lactation through litter size reduction caused obesity, hyperphagia, increased oxidative stress, liver insulin resistance and steatosis in offspring at adulthood. Malnutrition caused by early weaning was also associated with visceral obesity, increased oxidative stress and steatosis as well as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hypertension and central leptin resistance in adulthood. In this programming model by early weaning, adult animals were treated with resveratrol (30mg/kg/BW for 30 days), a polyphenol found in grapes and known for its antioxidant and hypoglycemic actions. Offspring programmed by early weaning that were treated with resveratrol had body mass, visceral fat and liver morphology similar to those found in control offspring. Also, resveratrol normalized blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and serum glucose, adiponectin and leptin. The normalization of leptin levels was associated with the correction of central leptin resistance in these animals, since resveratrol normalized food intake and hypothalamic content of JAK2, pSTAT3 and NPY. Therefore, offspring programmed by overnutrition during lactation or early weaning displayed increased oxidative stress, obesity and metabolic disorders such as steatosis. Treatment with resveratrol in early weaned offspring prevented the increase of oxidative stress, visceral obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and steatosis. Indeed, resveratrol normalized serum leptin as well as its action in the hypothalamus, controlling the hyperphagia characteristic of these offspring.