Use of alternative medicine to improve fetal metabolic programming of type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Today the prevalence of adult and childhood Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing in USA and worldwide. Studies have shown that obese pregnant women can adversely impact the health condition of their fetus. Inflammation is a critical component in the progression of fetal programming of T2D. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has caught the attention of medical practitioners due to its increased use among people with chronic diseases. Emblica officinalis (EO), or Indian gooseberry, has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic herbal preparations as an anti-aging or rejuvenating medicine. All parts of EO plants including the leaves, bark or fruit have demonstrated significant efficacy to alleviate inflammation, cancer, renal disease, and diabetes-induced oxidative stress in rodent models. We hypothesize that EO will also improve glucose metabolism and inflammation among offspring born to mother mice fed high fat diet (HFD). The objective of our study was to determine if EO will prevent fetal programming of adult onset of T2D and identify the mechanisms by which EO regulates glucose metabolism among offspring born to mother mice fed HFD with and without EO. In our study C57BL/6J parent mice was fed with either control or 58% kcal HFD for 2 weeks before mating and during mating. All offspring were fed with control diets after weaning. Those fetuses were scarified at 1 month and 2 month, and their tissues were stored at-80 degree freezer until analysis data. EO had no effect on daily food intake but significantly inhibited body weight gain as well as adipose tissue weights in parent mice fed HFD. EO also normalized the glucose and insulin tolerance in parents fed HFD. However, EO did not show any significant effects on fetal body weight change and fetal the normalization of glucose impairments. EO normalized inflammatory molecules such as including Th1 and Th2 levels in offspring both born to HFD fed mother mice and born to HFD with EO fed mother. Overall, EO can offer a good therapeutic strategy to improve impairment of fetal programming of T2D associated.