Nannochloropsis biomass alleviates high fat diet induced cardiac and hepatic metabolic disturbances in mice

The high-fat diet (HFD) causes cardiac and hepatic injury by inducing metabolic disturbances like oxidative
stress, dyslipidemia, steatosis, endothelial dysfunction, angiogenesis, altered organ function parameters, in­
flammatory mediators, and apoptosis. The present study evaluated bioactive compounds rich biomass of
microalga Nannochloropsis sp. for its possible protective effect and associated mechanisms against HFD induced
hepatic and cardiac metabolic disturbances in a mice model. Supplementation of HFD with 15 % of Nanno­
chloropsis sp. biomass significantly alleviated the cardiac and hepatic metabolic disturbances. Supplementation
countered the body weight gain, modulated oxidative stress and dyslipidemia, improved cardiovascular risk
indices, and attenuated the organ/tissue injury markers AST, ALT, CKMB, and LDH. Histology studies showed
that supplementation effectively reduced the HFD induced steatosis, hypertrophy, fibrosis, and necrosis in the
liver and heart tissues. Supplementation significantly suppressed the elevated mRNA expression levels of PPAR-γ
and CD36, thereby protecting the organs against steatosis. Furthermore, the supplementation significantly
alleviated the HFD induced perturbations in inflammation and apoptosis by suppressing the elevated caspase-3
and caspase-9 activity and protein expression of NF-κB, TNF-α, COX-2, and iNOS while upregulating the IL-10
protein expression. Supplementation also significantly attenuated the endothelial dysfunction and
angiogenesis-associated organ remodelling by downregulating the increased mRNA expression levels of ICAM-1,
VCAM-1, and VEGF-A. The study suggests the potential of Nannochloropsis sp. biomass as a functional dietary
supplement for the alleviation of HFD induced cardiac and hepatic metabolic disturbances.