Background: Obesity is associated with numerous metabolic and inflammatory disorders. The current study was aimed to evaluate the effects of vitamin D administration on the markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in the cardiac tissue of high-fat diet induced obese rats.
Methods: In the beginning of the study, 40 male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: normal diet (ND) and high fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks; then each group subdivided into two groups including: ND, ND + vitamin D, HFD and HFD + vitamin D. Vitamin D supplementation was done for 5 weeks at 500 IU/kg dosage. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α concentration and markers of oxidative stress including glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and catalase (CAT) concentrations in the cardiac tissue and serum concentrations of lipids in rats were determined using ELISA kits and spectrophotometry methods respectively.
Results: According to our results, GPx activity in ND and ND + vitamin D group was significantly higher compared with HFD group. Similarly, SOD activity was also significantly increased in ND + vitamin D group compared with ND and HFD groups. Moreover, vitamin D administration, significantly reduced catalase activity in ND + vitamin D and HFD + vitamin D groups (P < 0.05). TNF-α concentration in heart tissue in ND + vitamin D group significantly reduced compared with ND group. Cardiac tissue MDA concentration in baseline or after vitamin D administration did not changed significantly.
Conclusion: Vitamin D improved cardiac oxidative stress and inflammatory markers in HFD induced obese rats. Further studies in human models are needed to further confirm the use of this nutrient in daily clinical practice.
Keywords: Cardiac tissue; Inflammation; Obesity; Oxidative stress; Vitamin D.