The influence of the ingestion of juçara associated or not with a high fat diet in the activation of areas of the cerebral nervous system involved with energy homeostasis

• Grant number: 16/20475-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2017
• End date: September 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - General Physiology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Camila Aparecida Machado de Oliveira
• Grantee: Natália dos Reis
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde e Sociedade (ISS). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obesity is a global public health problem, responsible for the large increase in the number of chronic non-communicable diseases, especially diabetes mellitus. In this sense, the search for strategies to combat or treat obesity has great value. The fruit of juçara palm is rich in phenolic compounds with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In a previous study, we demonstrated that juçara improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in obese mice, and reduced weight gain, the latter associated with increased energy expenditure. However, the combination of juçara with a standard diet increased both food intake and body weight. Thus, extrapolating the benefits of juçara for the general population should be viewed with caution. To better understand the actions of juçara, our aim is to evaluate the effects of juçara on the activation of neurons of hypothalamic nuclei and dopaminergic system, responsible for the control of energy homeostasis. For this purpose, C57bl/6 mice will receive a chow (C) or high fat diet (H), in association (CJ and HJ, respectively) or not juçara for 16 weeks. At the end of this period, the expression of the protein deltaFosB in the regions mentioned above will be analyzed. (AU)