Grape seed proanthocyanidins and metformin combination attenuate hepatic endoplasmic reticulum stress in rats subjected to nutrition excess

Abstract

Context: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the liver is a pathological outcome of nutrient excess and is suggested to be one of the hits for progressive liver injury.

Objective: This study investigated whether grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) and metformin (MET) alone or in combination can relieve hepatic ER stress induced in rats subjected to calorie excess.

Material and methods: Male albino Wistar rats were given high calorie diet (HCD) for 45 days, while GSP (100 mg/kg body weight) and MET (50 mg/kg body weight) were administered either alone or in combination for last 15 days.

Results: GSP, MET or both had reduced the levels of ER stress markers and chaperons, and suppressed the activation of lipogenic and inflammatory mediators in rat liver.

Discussion: Though GSP and MET had reduced ER stress and inflammation individually, combination treatment with GSP + MET was more effective.

Conclusion: We suggest intervention with GSP and MET intake has to be considered for the management of liver disorders.

Keywords:

• Grape seed proanthocyanidins
• metformin
• endoplasmic reticulum stress
• inflammation
• high calorie diet

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India for providing financial assistance in the form of Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) to Y.B. The authors wish to thank DST-FIST and UGC-SAP for the infrastructure facilities developed in Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India [grant number 3/1/2/1/2011-RHN].