Evaluation of the role of alpha-7 nicotinic receptor in intestinal permeability and integrity in offspring of obese mothers

• Grant number: 21/04414-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition - Nutrition Biochemistry
• Principal Investigator: Adriana Souza Torsoni
• Grantee: João Paulo Costa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas (FCA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the last decades, the supply and consumption of ultra-processed foods rich in calories andsaturated fat has become more frequent, contributing to the extensive expansion of obesityconditions around the globe. Obesity is a multifactorial disease characterized by excessadiposity that compromises the individual's health. It is currently known that a maternalobesogenic environment can cause an increase in placental pro-inflammatory cytokines,leading to dysbiosis in the intestinal microbiota of the offspring. Evidence in the literaturesuggests that dysbiosis in the intestinal microbiota has a fundamental role in the developmentof obesity and diseases associated with metabolic syndrome, in addition to being related tochanges in intestinal permeability. The nicotinic alpha-7 nAChR receptor belongs to the familyof acetylcholine receptors involved in the innervation of several tissues. Alpha-7 nAChR actsas an ion channel that participates in brain-intestinal communication and studies have linkedthis receptor to a reduction in the levels of intestinal pro-inflammatory cytokines. In view ofthis, our objective is to investigate the role of the alpha-7 nAChR receptor in the process of inflammation, permeability and integrity of the intestinal barrier in offspring of obese mothers.Understanding the role of metabolic programming in intestinal permeability and integrity cancontribute to advances in the control of obesity cases in the world population.