Objective: Obesity is linked to an increased risk of diabetes, and the mechanisms through which excess fat negatively impacts the pancreas remain largely unclear. Our objective was to examine the impact of a high-fat diet (HFD) on pancreatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, along with the potential protective and therapeutic effects provided by bee bread.
Method: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into four groups (n = 6 per group): Standard diet (SD), HFD, HFD with bee bread (HFD + Bb) (0.5 g/kg body weight/d given concurrently for 12 wk as a protective model), and obese with bee bread (OB + Bb) (0.5 g/kg body weight/d given for 6 wk after obesity induction as a therapeutic model). After 12 wk, the body and organ; food intake; and blood serum levels were measured.
Results: Bee bread supplementation in both protective and therapeutic models notably decreased the Lee obesity index (303.1 ± 7.00; 308.6 ± 5.07), serum blood glucose (67.17 ± 4.45 mg/dL; 71.50 ± 3.94 mg/dL), serum insulin levels (0.72 ± 0.28 ng/mL; 1.22 ± 0.49 ng/mL), and lipid concentrations (TG, TC, FFA) in both serum and pancreatic tissue. Furthermore, bee bread inhibited Keap1 and enhanced Nrf2 cytoplasmic and nuclear translocations, resulting in improved pancreatic oxidative stress parameters. Moreover, bee bread reduced pancreatic inflammation and improved β-cell function and its regulator levels (AMPK, Sirt1).
Conclusions: These results showed that bee bread has protective and therapeutic effects against obesity-induced pancreatic lipotoxicity and dysfunction.
Keywords: Obesity; bee bread; inflammation; oxidative stress; pancreas.