Overweight/bowel dysmotility crosslinking and analogous laxative actions of two edible wild fruits in obese/constipated rats.

Background: The prompt development of obesity/constipation is the most serious problem for both children and adults. Limited studies suggested an association between them but lacked preclinical studies. This study allows to evaluate their crosslink and to compare the aqueous extracts laxative actions of two edible wild fruits of Arbutus unedo (AUAE) and Crataegus monogyna (CMAE) in constipated high-fat diet (HFD) rats.

Methods: Wistar rats were divided into experimental groups for 13 weeks: standard (SD) and HFD groups. SD-rats were randomly redivided into 2 groups: SD and SD + Loperamide (LOP, 3 mg/kg, b.w.). HFD-rats were randomly reseparated into HFD-group, (HFD + LOP)-group, [HFD + Yohimbine (YOH, 2 mg/kg, b.w.)]-group, [HFD+ LOP]-groups+ various doses of AUAE or CMAE (75, 150, and 300 mg/kg, b.w.). Diversified indicators were investigated to achieve the expected objectives, including; fecal parameters, gastrointestinal transit (GIT), gastric emptying (GE), oxidative stress-(OxS), blood biochemical analysis, and accompanied small/large bowel histological modification.

Key results: The liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analysis of AUAE and CMAE allowed the identification of 11 and 6 phenolic compounds, respectively. In HFD-rats, the subsequent dysregulation of GI motility was markedly aggravated. More importantly, with the same way (CMAE and AUAE)-treated groups showed alleviated outcomes for the following: most stool parameters, GIT, and GE were remarkably recovered; a similar recovery pattern was observed in the histopathological structure, OxS, and blood biochemical indicators.

Conclusions & inferences: Our results experimentally confirmed the crosslink between overweight and constipation and both fruits have potential as functional foods to reduce metabolic risk of the obesity associated with bowel dysmotility.