Cafeteria diet can cause systemic inflammation and oxidative damage in the various tissues

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cafeteria diet (CAF) is a succesful tool for establishing animal obesity model. This study purposed to show immunoexpression and oxidant-antioxidant status in the various organ tissues of Wistar rats fed CAF. METHODS: Two groups (six rats per group) of Wistar albino rats were fed CAF and standard chow (control) diets for eight weeks. After experimental procedure, the animals were sacrificed. Intestine, stomach, liver, kidney, spleen, heart, lung, and pancreas tissues were sent to Pathology Department and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nuclear factor- κB (NF-κB) and cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB-1) immunoexpressions were assessed. Also, plasma liver function tests and lipid levels were measured total oxidant capacity (TOC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were evaluated in both plasma and liver tissue. RESULTS: The immunoexpressions of NF-κB, iNOS and CB-1 were higher in the experiment group for all tissues. TOC was significantly higher in the experiment group, for both plasma and liver tissue (p <  0.001 and p = 0.02). TAC was higher in the experiment group’s plasma measurement (p = 0.02), while there was no difference in the liver tissue between experiment and control groups (p = 0.11). CONCLUSION: CAF-induced obesity may be related to increased immunoexpression and oxidative damage in the various organs. Systemic problems should be considered and these phenomenon should be studied more comprehensively.