title: Anti-obesity and cardioprotective effects of cinnamic acid in high fat diet- induced obese rats.
abstract: Obesity is a chronic metabolic disorder that is associated with numerous diseases including hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Cinnamic acid is a phytochemical compound having many biological effects and could be considered for the management of obesity. This study is aimed to assess the possible anti-obesity and cardioprotective properties of cinnamic acid (CA) in high fat diet-fed rats (HFD). Male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups. They received normal diet, HFD diet, HFD supplemented with fluvastatin (2 mg/kg/day) or cinnamic acid (30 mg/kg/day) for 7 weeks. The results showed an increase in body weight of HFD rats by ~27 % as compared to control group. Moreover, serum lipase activity underwent a significant rise by 103 % which led to an increase in the levels of total cholesterol (T-Ch), triglycerides (TG), LDL-cholesterol in serum of untreated HFD-fed rats. Furthermore, the concentration of leptin and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity exhibited remarkable increases in serum of HFD-fed rats as compared to controls. Whereas, the administration of CA to HFD-fed rats improved the body weight gain and serum lipid profile and reverted back near to normal the activities of lipase and ACE. In addition, the echocardiography evidenced that CA is able to protect the aorta and aortic arch and avoided vasoconstriction by increasing their diameters and improved liver steatosis and kidney indices of toxicity. Overall, these results suggest that cinnamic acid exerts anti-obesity and antihypertensive effects through inhibition of lipid digestive enzymes and ACE.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecophysiology, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, P.O. Box 95, Sfax, 3052 Tunisia ; Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, B.P. 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Kais
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mnafgui
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecophysiology, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, P.O. Box 95, Sfax, 3052 Tunisia.
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Derbali
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Bioprocédés Environnementaux, pôle d'excellence régional (PER, AUF), Centre de Biotechnologie de Sfax, University of Sfax, B.P. "1177", 3018 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sayadi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, B.P. 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Neji
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gharsallah
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Ecophysiology, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, P.O. Box 95, Sfax, 3052 Tunisia.
authors.forename: Abdelfattah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elfeki
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, B.P. 1171, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Allouche
keywords: ACE; HFD; Leptin; Lipase