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. 2020 Dec 7;10(12):500.
doi: 10.3390/metabo10120500.

Caulerpa lentillifera (Sea Grapes) Improves Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health of Rats with Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome

Ryan du Preez  1 , Marwan E Majzoub  2   3 , Torsten Thomas  2   3 , Sunil K Panchal  1 , Lindsay Brown  1   4
Affiliations

Caulerpa lentillifera (Sea Grapes) Improves Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health of Rats with Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome

Ryan du Preez et al. Metabolites. .

Abstract

Caulerpa lentillifera (sea grapes) is widely consumed in South-East Asia as a low-energy food with high contents of vitamins and minerals. This study investigated dried sea grapes containing 16.6% insoluble fibre commercially produced in Vietnam as an intervention. We hypothesised that insoluble fibre is the primary metabolite that will reverse diet-induced metabolic syndrome. Male Wistar rats (n = 48) were randomly allocated to four groups in a 16 week protocol. Two groups were fed either corn starch (C) or high-carbohydrate, high-fat (H) diets for the full 16 weeks. The other two groups received C and H diets for eight weeks and then received C. lentillifera added to these diets for the final eight weeks (CCL and HCL, respectively). High-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats developed obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, fatty liver disease and increased left ventricular collagen deposition. C. lentillifera supplementation in HCL rats decreased body weight, systolic blood pressure, plasma concentrations of total cholesterol and non-esterified fatty acids, inflammatory cells in heart and liver, and visceral adiposity. The Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio decreased in the gut microbiota of HCL rats. Therefore, C. lentillifera attenuated cardiovascular and metabolic symptoms of metabolic syndrome in rats, possibly by preventing infiltration of inflammatory cells together with modulating gut microbiota.

Keywords: Caulerpa lentillifera; green seaweed; gut microbiota; metabolic syndrome; sea grapes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The 24 h indirect calorimeter Oxymax data. (A) Respiratory exchange ratio and (B) heat production in corn starch diet-fed rats (C), corn starch diet-fed rats supplemented with 5% Caulerpa lentillifera (CCL), high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats (H) and high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats supplemented with 5% Caulerpa lentillifera (HCL).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Liver fat structure using haematoxylin and eosin stain (A–D) and oil red O stain (E–H); left ventricular structure—heart inflammation (I–L) using haematoxylin and eosin stain and heart fibrosis (M–P) for collagen using picrosirius red staining; ileum (Q–T) and colon (U–X) structure using haematoxylin and eosin stain in corn starch diet-fed rats (A,E,I,M,Q,U), corn starch diet-fed rats supplemented with Caulerpa lentillifera (B,F,J,N,R,V), high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats (C,G,K,O,S,W) and high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats supplemented with Caulerpa lentillifera (D,H,L,P,T,X). Fat cells = fc; inflammatory cells = ic; fibrosis = fb. Scale bar is 200 μm for (A–P) (20×) and 100 μm for (Q–X) (10×).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot of bacterial community structure of faecal samples from different feeding regimes; (B) Effect of supplementation of diet (C or H) with Caulerpa lentillifera on the ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes (F/B) abundances in rat faecal samples. Statistical analysis performed using ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test for multiple comparisons, * p < 0.05; and (C) Taxonomic profiles of bacterial communities shown at the family level of all faecal samples. C, corn starch diet-fed rats; CCL, corn starch diet-fed rats supplemented with Caulerpa lentillifera; H, high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats; HCL, high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet-fed rats supplemented with Caulerpa lentillifera.
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