Parental High-Fat Diet Promotes Inflammatory and Senescence-Related Changes in Prostate

2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) exposure during postnatal development alters the effects of western diet on mouse prostate

Western diet (WD), abundant in saturated fats and simple carbohydrates, has been associated with the development of prostate diseases. In addition, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), an herbicide used in agricultural and non-agricultural settings, may interfere with the endocrine system impacting reproductive health. The association of both factors is something common in everyday life, however, there are no relevant studies associating them as possible modulators of prostatic diseases. This study evaluated the action of the herbicide 2,4-D on the postnatal development of the prostate in mice fed with WD. Male C57Bl/6J mice received simultaneously a WD and 2,4-D at doses of 0.02, 2.0, or 20.0 mg/kg b.w./day for 6 months. The prolongated WD intake induced obesity and glucose intolerance, increasing body weight and fat. WD induced morphological changes and increased PCNA-positive epithelial cells in prostate. Additionally, the WD increased gene expression of AR, antioxidant targets, inflammation-related cytokines, cell repair and turnover, and targets related to methylation and miRNAs biosynthesis compared to the counterpart (basal diet). 2,4-D (0.02 and 2.0) changed prostate morphology and gene expression evoked by WD. In contrast, the WD group exposed to 20 mg/kg of 2,4-D reduced feed intake and body weight, and increased expression of androgen receptor and genes related to cell repair and DNA methylation compared to the negative control. Our results showed that 2,4-D was able to modulate the effects caused by WD, mainly at lower doses. However, further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms of 2,4-D on the obesogenic environment caused by the WD.

Preclinical models and evaluation criteria of prostatitis

Prostatitis is a common urological condition that affects almost half of all men at some point in their life. The prostate gland has a dense nerve supply that contributes to the production of fluid to nourish sperm and the mechanism to switch between urination and ejaculation. Prostatitis can cause frequent urination, pelvic pain, and even infertility. Long-term prostatitis increases the risk of prostate cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia. Chronic non-bacterial prostatitis presents a complex pathogenesis, which has challenged medical research. Experimental studies of prostatitis require appropriate preclinical models. This review aimed to summarize and compare preclinical models of prostatitis based on their methods, success rate, evaluation, and range of application. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of prostatitis and advance basic research.

Chronic consumption of a hypercaloric diet increases neuroinflammation and brain senescence, promoting cognitive decline in middle-aged female Wistar rats

Being overweight and obesity are world health problems, with a higher prevalence in women, defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that increases the risk of chronic diseases. Excess energy leads to adipose expansion, generating hypertrophic adipocytes that produce various pro-inflammatory molecules. These molecules cause chronic low-intensity inflammation, affecting the organism's functioning and the central nervous system (CNS), inducing neuroinflammation. The neuroinflammatory response during obesity occurs in different structures of the CNS involved in memory and learning, such as the cortex and the hippocampus. Here we analyzed how obesity-related peripheral inflammation can affect CNS physiology, generating neuroinflammation and promoting cellular senescence establishment. Since some studies have shown an increase in senescent cells during aging, obesity, and neurodegenerative diseases, we proposed that cellular senescence participation may contribute to the cognitive decline in an obesity model of middle-aged female Wistar rats. The inflammatory state of 6 and 13 months-old female Wistar rats fed with a hypercaloric diet was measured in serum and CNS (cortex and hippocampus). Memory was evaluated using the novel object recognition (NOR) test; the presence of senescent markers was also determined. Our data suggest that the systemic inflammation generated by obesity induces a neuroinflammatory state in regions involved in learning and memory, with an increase in senescent markers, thus proposing senescence as a potential participant in the negative consequences of obesity in cognition.

Could parental high-fat intake program the reproductive health of male offspring? A review

High-fat diet (HFD) intake can cause overweight and obesity and has become a global public health concern in recent years. Nutritional adversity at vulnerable windows of development can affect developing cells and their functions, including germ cells. Evidence shows that parental HFD intake prior to conception and/or during gestation and lactation could program the reproductive health of male offspring, ultimately resulting in impairment of the first as well as subsequent generations. In male offspring, adipose tissue and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis imbalance can impair the production of gonadotropins, leading to dysfunction of testosterone production and pubertal onset. The gonads can be directly impaired through oxidative stress, causing poor testosterone production and spermatogenesis; low sperm count, viability, and motility; and abnormal sperm morphology, which results in low sperm quality. Parental HFD intake could also be a risk factor for prostate hyperplasia and cancer in advanced age. It can impact the reproductive pattern of male offspring resulting in impairments in the subsequent generations. The investigation of semen quality must be extended to epidemiological and clinical studies of the male offspring of overweight and/or obese parents in order to improve the quality of human semen. This review addresses the effects of parental HFD intake on the reproductive parameters of male offspring and discusses the possible underlying mechanisms.

Fetal programming by high-fat diet promoted the decreased of the prostate in adult Wistar albino rats

We investigated the effect of a high-fat diet on body metabolism and ventral prostate morphology in 4-months-old offspring. The mother was fed with a control (C) or a high-fat (HF) diet during gestation and lactation. At weaning, the offspring diet remained the same (C/C, n = 8; HF/HF, n = 8) or it was switched (C/HF, n = 8; HF/C, n = 9). Biometry, blood pressure (BP), glucose, lipid metabolism and ventral prostate were evaluated. Triacylglycerol of HF/C increased, and the C/HF group had decreased HDL-c levels (P = 0.0005 and P = 0.0100, respectively). All groups on the HF diet presented hyperglycemia (P = 0.0064). Serum testosterone diminished in the C/HF group (P = 0.0218). The HF diet, regardless of the period, reduced prostatic acinar area (P < 0.0001). The epithelium height was smaller in HF/C and HF/HF groups compared with C/C and C/HF (P < 0.0001), and the volume density of epithelium was lower in HF/C group compared with the C/C and C/HF (P = 0.0024). The volume density of smooth muscle cells diminished in C/HF and HF/C (P = 0.0013), and the volume density of connective tissue was reduced in HF/C and HF/HF (P < 0.0001). High-fat diet intake during prenatal and postnatal life leads to prostatic atrophy, which may impair prostate secretory activity and contractility, and thus disturb reproductive function in adulthood.

Effects of inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and STAT3/NF-κB- and Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress on benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by a high-fat diet

This study determined whether or not benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) is involved in inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3)/nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB)- and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-mediated oxidative stress pathways. Forty rats were divided into four groups: control; HFD; testosterone; and HFD+testosterone. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used to assess histologic changes. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot analysis were used to detect levels of related proteins. Compared with the control group, the prostate levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), malondialdehyde (MDA), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) were significantly increased, while the levels of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were decreased. The TNF-κB, Bcl-2, and caspase-3 levels were increased, while the Bax level was markedly decreased. The cytoplasmic expression of STAT3 and NF-κB was increased, while the nuclear expression of Nrf2 was markedly decreased compared with the control group. In summary, our results demonstrated that a long-term HFD might cause changes in inflammatory responses, apoptosis, and oxidative stress, thus contributing to prostatic hyperplasia. The underlying mechanisms might be related to the STAT3/NF-κB- and Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress pathway.

Maternal Resveratrol Supplementation Prevents Cognitive Decline in Senescent Mice Offspring

A variety of environmental factors contribute significantly to age-related cognitive decline and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. Nutrition can alter epigenetics, improving health outcomes, which can be transmitted across generations; this process is called epigenetic inheritance. We investigate the beneficial effects of maternal resveratrol supplementation in the direct exposed F1 generation and the transgenerational F2 generation. The offspring was generated from females Senescence Accelerated Mouse-Prone (SAMP8) fed a resveratrol-enriched diet for two months prior to mating. Object novel recognition and Morris Water Maze (MWM) demonstrated improvements in cognition in the 6-month-old F1 and F2 generations from resveratrol fed mothers. A significant increase in global DNA methylation with a decrease in hydroxymethylation in F1 and F2 were found. Accordingly, Dnmt3a/b and Tet2 gene expression changed. Methylation levels of Nrf2 and NF-kβ genes promoters raised in offspring, inducing changes in target genes expression, as well as hydrogen peroxide levels. Offspring that resulted from a resveratrol fed mother showed increase AMPKα activation, mTOR inhibition, and an increase in Pgc-1α gene expression and Beclin-1 protein levels. Endoplasmic reticulum stress sensors were found changed both in F1 and F2 generations. Overall, our results demonstrated that maternal resveratrol supplementation could prevent cognitive impairment in the SAMP8 mice offspring through epigenetic changes and cell signaling pathways.