Resveratrol is beneficial in obese and diabetic rodents. However, its low bioavailability raises questions about its therapeutic relevance for treating or preventing obesity complications. In this context, many related natural polyphenols are being tested for their putative antidiabetic and anti-obesity effects. This prompted us to study the influence of piceatannol, a polyhydroxylated stilbene, on the prevention of obesity complications in Zucker obese rats. A 6-week supplementation was followed by the determination of various markers in plasma, liver, adipose tissue and heart, together with a large-scale analysis of gut microbiota composition. When given in doses of 15 or 45 mg/kg body weight/day, piceatannol did not reduce either hyperphagia or fat accumulation. It did not modify the profusion of the most abundant phyla in gut, though slight changes were observed in the abundance of several Lactobacillus, Clostridium, and Bacteroides species belonging to Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. This was accompanied by a tendency to reduce plasma lipopolysaccharides by 30 %, and by a decrease of circulating non-esterified fatty acids, LDL-cholesterol, and lactate. While piceatannol tended to improve lipid handling, it did not mitigate hyperinsulinemia and cardiac hypertrophy. However, it increased cardiac expression of ephrin-B1, a membrane protein that contributes to maintaining cardiomyocyte architecture. Lastly, ascorbyl radical plasma levels and hydrogen peroxide release by adipose tissue were similar in control and treated groups. Thus, piceatannol did not exhibit strong slimming capacities but did limit several obesity complications.
Keywords: Adipokines; Adipose tissue; Cardiomyocytes; Gut microbiota; Liver; Piceatannol; Zucker rat.