title: Eicosapentaenoic acid/docosahexaenoic acid 1:1 ratio improves histological alterations in obese rats with metabolic syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Marine polyunsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have been associated with improvement in the Metabolic Syndrome (MS). The aim of this study is to evaluate how three fish-oil diets with different eicosapentaenoic acid/docosahexaenoic acid ratios (EPA/DHA ratio) affect the histology of liver, kidney, adipose tissue and aorta in a preliminary morphological study. This work uses an animal model of metabolic syndrome in comparison with healthy animals in order to provide information about the best EPA:DHA ratio to prevent or to improve metabolic syndrome symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  35 Wistar rats, as a control, and 35 spontaneously hypertensive obese rats (SHROB) were fed for 13 weeks with 3 different supplementation of fish oil containing EPA and DHA ratios (1:1, 2:1 and 1:2, respectively). All samples were stained with haematoxylin/eosin stain, except aorta samples, which were stained also with Verhoeff and van Gieson's stain. A histological study was carried out to evaluate changes. These changes were statistically analyzed using SPSS IBM 19 software. The quantitative data were expressed by mean ± SD and were compared among groups and treatments using ANOVA with post-hoc tests for parametric data and the U-Mann-Whitney for non-parametric data. Qualitative data were expressed in frequencies, and compared with contingency tables using χ² statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EPA:DHA 1:1 treatment tended to improve the density and the wrinkling of elastic layers in SHROB rats. Only Wistar rats fed with EPA:DHA 1:1 treatment did not show mast cells in adipose tissue and has less kidney atrophy. In both strains EPA:DHA 1:1 treatment improved inflammation related parameters in liver and kidney.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EPA:DHA 1:1 treatment was the most beneficial treatment since improved many histological parameters in both groups of rats.
authors: Unit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Rovira i Virgili University, Reus, Spain. nuria.taltavull@urv.cat.
authors: Núria
authors: N
authors: Taltavull
authors: Mònica
authors: M
authors: Muñoz-Cortés
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Lluís
authors: Montserrat
authors: M
authors: Jové
authors: Angels
authors: A
authors: Fortuño
authors: Eunice
authors: E
authors: Molinar-Toribio
authors: Josep Lluís
authors: JL
authors: Torres
authors: Manuel
authors: M
authors: Pazos
authors: Isabel
authors: I
authors: Medina
authors: M Rosa
authors: MR
authors: Nogués
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D009765:Obesity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid