Effect of Momordica Charantia on The Prevention of Changes in Serum and Hepatic Metabolism of Animals Fed A High Fat Diet

Abstract

Excess lipids stored in adipose tissue can lead to changes in metabolism. It is known that the treatment with Momordica charantia (MC) is able to stimulate lipolysis, decrease insulin resistance, triacylglycerol concentration and body weight. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of MC tea administration to prevent biochemical changes in the metabolism of mice fed high fat diet. For this, swiss mice were fed with a control diet (C) or a high fat diet for 4 and 8 weeks (HF). They also received water or MC tea during treatment (CP, HFP). Body weight, food and water intake were evaluated daily. After treatment, the HF and HFP animals were submitted to the Glucose Tolerance Test. All groups were euthanized and blood was collected for analysis of biochemical parameters. The epididymal, retroperitoneal and liver tissues were weighed. hepatic tissue were also used to quantification of lipids.  The results were analyzed using Student's T test (p<0.05) and expressed as mean ± SE. A progressive decrease in the accumulation of lipids in adipose tissues and in the liver, as well as in the serum levels of TAG and VLDL was observed between the HFP8 vs HFP4 groups The carbohydrate metabolism presented very expressive changes in a short time of treatment (HFP4). The data suggest that MC appears to be effective in preventing changes in metabolism, probably by preventing the increase of lipid deposits, decreasing the inflammatory process and leading to an improvement in insulin sensitivity.