Efeitos da farinha de inseto Gryllus assimilis no tecido adiposo e alterações metabólicas em modelo murino de obesidade

Abstract

Obesity is a serious problem that imposes health problems and compromises the quality of life. It is defined by well-established criteria as excess body fat, and its repercussions involve risk factors for the development of a heterogeneous group of metabolic alterations. In view of the complications imposed by obesity on health conditions, several strategies have been evaluated in the therapeutic process of this pathology. Among the most innovative and promising proposals, the experiments based on edible insects have gained prominence and reveal themselves as new avenues for the investigation of possible positive effects on metabolism and complications of obesity. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the insect flour from Gryllus assimilis (GA) on adipose tissue and metabolic alterations in a murine model of obesity. To this end, obese male Swiss mice were treated with different diets: Standard diet (ST), maintenance diet (AIN93M), high-fat diet (HFD), AIN93- M diet enriched with insect meal (AIN93-M+GA), and high-fat diet enriched with insect meal (HFD+GA). The parameters such as food intake, body weight, biochemical levels, adipose tissue histology and adipose tissue mRNA expression were evaluated. The main findings showed that the consumption of the insect meal was able to modulate metabolic pathways of lipogenesis and inhibition of adipocyte hypertrophy associated with effects on glycemic profile and serum lipid markers. Thus, it can be concluded that the edible insect flour Gryllus Assimilis can be considered a potential dietary, food and nutritional product, with a therapeutical effect in metabolic disorders existing in obesity.