Objective: To observe the effects of resveratrol on body composition in adult catch-up growth rats and to explore the possible mechanism.
Methods: Eight-week-old male SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: normal controls for 4 weeks (NC4) group, caloric restriction for 4 weeks (R4) group, calorie restriction meanwhile resveratrol treatment for 4 weeks (R4E) group, normal controls for 12 weeks (NC12) group, catch-up growth (CUG) group and catch-up growth meanwhile resveratrol treatment for 8 weeks (CUGE) group. At the end of the four-week and twelve-week experimental period, the body weight, muscle and fat content of trunk and whole body, the ratio of trunk to whole body fat were detected, and at the end of twelve-week experimental period, the expression of SIRT1 in skeletal muscle and epididymal adipose tissue, and the expression of PPARγ in epididymal adipose tissue were detected.
Results: Compared with NC12 group, the fat content of trunk and whole body and trunk to whole body fat ratio in CUG group were increased significantly, along with the expression of PPARγ in epididymal adipose tissue was increased significantly (P＜0.05), while the muscle content of trunk and whole body, the expression of SIRT1 in skeletal muscle and epididymal adipose tissue in CUG group were decreased significantly compared with NC12 group (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01); compared with CUG group, oral administration of resveratrol distinctly reduced the body fat content and trunk to whole body fat ratio in the CUGE groups, and the expression of PPARγ in epididymal adipose tissue of CUGE group was also significantly decreased (P＜0.05). Meanwhile, the muscle content and the expression of SIRT1 in skeletal muscle and epididymal adipose tissue in CUGE group were significantly increased compared with the CUG group (P＜0.05).
Conclusion: Resveratrol can decrease body fat content, increase muscle content and improve abdominal fat accumulation in adult catch-up growth rats, and its mechanism may be associated with increasing SIRT1 expression in skeletal muscle and visceral adipose tissue, decreasing PPARγ expression in visceral adipose tissue.