Effects of maternal bitter melon (momordica charantia) supplementation on hepatic lipid metabolism of fructose fed dams and their progeny

Abstract

Bitter melon (BM) reduces blood lipids, slows tissue fat accumulation and improves insulin sensitivity in rat fed diets high in fat or fructose (F). We hypothesized that progeny of fructose fed dams will benefit from maternal BM supplementation. Virgin female Sprague-Dawley rats were given control (C), fructose (F: 60%) or BM supplemented (1% BM juice) F diet (FBM) for 8-wk before mating, throughout gestation and lactation. Weaned male pups were fed either C or F for 11wk to generate C/C, F/C, FBM/C, F/F, FBM/F diet groups (dam/pup). FBM dams had lower serum cholesterol (CHL); liver weight and triglyceride (TG) level (F vs FBM, n=11, p < 0.002). Litter size and birth weight of pups were similar. At weaning (wk3), pups of FBM dams had lower serum TG than those of F dams (p < 0.005). At wk 11, hepatic TG and CHL of FBM/C rats were lower than that of F/C rats (n=9, p < 0.001). Although all F-fed young rats had higher liver weight, for those of FBM dams, they had elevated hepatic fatty acid binding protein 1, carnitine palmitoyltransferase la and very long chain acyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase mRNA expression (FBM/F vs F/F, n=9, p < 0.05), suggesting a mechanistic setup to reduce hepatic fat accumulation. Hence, maternal BM supplementation leads to favorable changes in lipid handling of progeny. These could be direct actions of bioactive compounds in BM or consequence of improved metabolic controls of dams.