Agave fructans and oligofructose decrease oxidative stress in brain regions involved in learning and memory of overweight mice

Nat Prod Res. 2019 May;33(10):1527-1530. doi: 10.1080/14786419.2017.1423297. Epub 2018 Jan 9.

Abstract

Obesity is currently a public health problem worldwide. Recently, non-reducing carbohydrates, that include β(2→1) and β(2→6) linkages in their structure, have been of particular interest in the field of obesity because they are involved in lipid metabolism. Some of these are agave fructans (AF) and oligofructose (OF). In this study, we evaluated both AF and OF on oxidative stress (OS) markers in the brain of overweight mice (OM). AF and OF decreased TBARS levels and carbonyls at different levels in hippocampus (HP), frontal cortex (FC) and cerebellum (CB) of OM. The results indicated that fructans may have anti-oxidative potential and can be used as an alternative treatment for the prevention of the consequences of this pathology.

Keywords: Fructans; brain; overweight mice; oxidative stress; prebiotics.

MeSH terms

  • Agave / chemistry*
  • Animals
  • Brain / drug effects*
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Caloric Restriction
  • Diet, High-Fat / adverse effects
  • Fructans / pharmacology*
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Oligosaccharides / pharmacology*
  • Overweight / diet therapy*
  • Overweight / etiology
  • Overweight / metabolism
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Prebiotics
  • Protein Carbonylation / drug effects

Substances

  • Fructans
  • Oligosaccharides
  • Prebiotics
  • oligofructose