Treatment with Ilex paraguariensis (yerba mate) aqueous solution prevents hepatic redox imbalance, elevated triglycerides, and microsteatosis in overweight adult rats that were precociously weaned

Early weaning (EW) leads to overweight, visceral obesity, hyperleptinemia, and insulin resistance in adulthood. Treatment with Ilex paraguariensis (yerba mate) improves obesity and insulin resistance in these animals. Here, we evaluated the effects of chronic treatment with yerba mate on the redox balance and liver morphology of overweight early-weaned rats. To induce EW, we wrapped the dams with bandages to interrupt milk access during the last 3 days of lactation. Control pups (C) had free access to maternal milk for the full 21 days of lactation. On postnatal day (PN) 150, EW offspring were subdivided into the EW+YM group, which received the aqueous extract of yerba mate (1 g/kg bw by gavage once a day for 30 days) and the EW group, which received water by gavage for the same period. All rats were euthanized on PN180. The EW group showed higher bound carbonyl (a marker of total protein oxidation), higher TBARS levels (a marker of lipid peroxidation), and lower superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in liver tissue than the C group, as well as higher triglyceride content and microsteatosis. In plasma, the EW offspring showed higher TBARS levels. One month of yerba mate treatment normalized these parameters. Thus, we have shown evidence that yerba mate improved antioxidant defenses and mitigated liver dysfunction in overweight adult rats that were weaned prematurely.

早期断奶（Early Weaning，EW）可诱发成年个体出现超重、内脏型肥胖、高瘦素血症及胰岛素抵抗。使用巴拉圭冬青（Ilex paraguariensis，yerba mate，俗称马黛茶）进行干预，可改善此类动物的肥胖与胰岛素抵抗症状。本研究旨在探究马黛茶长期干预对早期断奶超重大鼠氧化还原平衡与肝脏形态学的影响。为构建早期断奶模型，我们在泌乳期最后3天以绷带包裹母鼠，阻断幼崽获取母乳；对照组幼崽（C组）可在完整21天泌乳期内自由采食母乳。于出生后第150天（PN150），将早期断奶子代大鼠分为两组：EW+YM组每日灌胃给予马黛茶水提物（1 g/kg体重，body weight，bw，连续干预30天），EW组同期仅灌胃给予蒸馏水。所有大鼠均于出生后第180天（PN180）实施安乐死。与C组相比，EW组大鼠肝组织中结合态羰基（总蛋白氧化标志物）、硫代巴比妥酸反应物质（TBARS，脂质过氧化标志物）水平显著升高，超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性显著降低，同时肝组织甘油三酯含量与肝细胞微脂肪变性程度更高；血浆中，EW组子代大鼠的TBARS水平同样升高。为期1个月的马黛茶干预可使上述参数恢复至正常水平。本研究证实，马黛茶可改善早期断奶超重成年大鼠的抗氧化防御能力，并缓解其肝脏功能异常。