Presenter: Rachel Compton
Authors: Rachel Compton, Satheesh Kuppuswamy, Kai Benedict, Chrissa Petersen, Anandh Babu Pon Velayutham
Faculty Advisor: Anandh Babu Pon Velayutham
Institution: University of Utah
Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Emerging evidence indicates that activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a vital role in regulating cardiovascular health. Recent study from our lab demonstrates that dietary supplementation of strawberry reduces vascular complications in diabetic and high-fat-diet (HFD) fed mice. However, it is unknown whether this improvement is associated with an increase in BAT activity. Our current study investigates the hypothesis that dietary strawberry activates brown fat in HFD-fed mice. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were fed either a standard diet containing 10% fat (C) or a HFD containing 45% fat (HF). An HF subgroup received 2.35% w/w freeze dried strawberry powder in their diet (HF+SB), a dosage physiologically equivalent to 2 human servings (160g fresh strawberries). At the end of a 12-week treatment period, mRNA expression of specific genes involved in BAT activity was assessed using qPCR. cDNA was synthesized using RNA extracted from BAT samples as a template and the expression of biomarkers was measured using SYBR Green. Results & Discussion: The relative expression of UPC1, PGC1α, and COX-2 enabled the assessment of the degree of BAT activity at the transcriptional level. Expression of UPC1 and PGC1α at the transcriptional level was drastically reduced in HF mice compared to C mice. Strawberry supplementation significantly improved PGC1α expression in HF+SB vs HF mice. Expression of COX-2 was not significantly different between the groups. Our study suggests dietary strawberry supplementation plays a possible role in the activation of BAT, though further analysis is required. Ongoing studies focus on identifying the effect of dietary strawberries on the expression of additional genes involved in BAT metabolic function. Our study will determine whether the vascular beneficial effects of strawberries are mediated through enhancing brown fat activity.