Hydroxytyrosol prevents PM2.5-induced adiposity and insulin resistance by restraining oxidative stress related NF-κB pathway and modulation of gut microbiota in a murine model.

Exposure to fine particular matter (≤2.5 μM, PM2.5) contributes to increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Hydroxytyrosol (HT), a simple polyphenol found in virgin olive oil, is considered to be beneficial for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. The current study determined whether HT could improve PM2.5-induced adiposity and insulin resistance (IR), and explored the underlying mechanisms. Fifteen adult female C57BL/6j mice on a chow diet were randomly divided into three groups receiving (1) sterile PBS, (2) PM2.5 suspended in sterile PBS (1 mg/mL) and (3) PM2.5+HT (50 mg/kg/day). PM2.5/PBS exposure was administered by oropharynx instillation every other day and HT supplementation was achieved by gavage every day. Four-week PM2.5 exposure did not affect body weight, but significantly increased visceral fat mass. The abdominal adiposity coincided with adipocyte hypertrophy and proliferation in visceral white adipose tissue (WAT), as well as decreased metabolic activity in brown adipose tissue and subcutaneous WAT. PM2.5 enhanced the oxidative stress by diminishing antioxidant enzyme activities in liver and serum, whereas contents of 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver and serum were elevated. These changes were accompanied by macrophage infiltration and activation of NF-κB pathway in the liver. Moreover, PM2.5 exposure led to glucose intolerance and insulin insensitivity, impaired hepatic glycogenesis, and decreased insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in peripheral tissues. Importantly, HT treatment prevented PM2.5-induced visceral adipogenesis, oxidative stress, hepatic inflammation and NF-κB activation, systemic and peripheral IR. In vitro, after HepG2 cells were incubated with PM2.5 (0, 5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL), reduced glutathione depletion and 4-HNE, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, MDA increment in a dose-dependent manner were observed; likewise, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Further, with antioxidant NAC and NF-κB inhibitor PDTC, we confirmed that HT attenuated PM2.5-induced IR through restraining NF-κB activation evoked by oxidative stress. In addition, HT could expand gut microbiota richness, reduce pathogenic bacteria and accommodate the microbial architecture in PM2.5-exposed mice, which were correlated with parameters of adiposity, oxidative stress and glycometabolism. HT could effectively correct imbalanced oxidative stress triggered by PM2.5, in turn ameliorated NF-κB pathway and insulin signaling. Gut microbiota may mediate the actions of HT.