Studies have shown synergistic and independent effects of leucine and resveratrol (RSV) as possible therapeutic agents to ameliorate metabolic disorders. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of supplementation with leucine and RSV, alone and in combination, on metabolic changes in white adipose tissue of neonatally STZ-induced diabetic rats. After weaning, the rats were treated with trans-resveratrol (0.6 mg/kg/dose) and/or leucine (1.35 mg/kg/dose) administered orally. The animals were euthanized at age 16 weeks for blood analyses. Subcutaneous (SC), periepididymal (PE) and retroperitoneal (RP) fat pads were weighed. Adipocytes from PE and RP pads were isolated for morphometric analysis. Long-term supplementation with RSV promoted adiposity recovery, prevented hypoinsulinemia and improved the metabolic profile of the diabetic rats. However, some of these effects were impaired when RSV was associated with leucine. The diabetic rats supplemented with leucine alone showed no significant improvement in metabolic disorders.
Keywords: Adipose tissue; diabetes; leucine; resveratrol.