Efeitos da CO-Q10 sobre parâmetros semelhantes à depressão induzidos pela obesidade precoce

Abstract

Obesity can cause depression and affect individuals early in life. Pharmacological treatment presents restrictions especially at this stage of life. The use of nutraceuticals such as Coenzyme Q-10 (Co-Q10) can be an alternative, since Co-Q10 has important anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Therefore, approved by the Animal Use Ethics Committee (0009/2021), the objective of the work was to evaluate the effects of Co-Q10 on depressive-type parameters in rats with early obesity induced by litter reduction. For this, the litter size reduction protocol was used, with the groups standardized in PND1 as follows: reduced litter (NR) 2 males and 2 females, and normal litter (NN) 6 males and 6 females. Between PND2 and PND5, the Maternal Behavior (MC) of the mothers was observed. On PND21, the puppies were weaned, separated by sex, into four groups: NN vehicle; NN Co-Q10; NR vehicle; and NR Co-Q10, and oral supplementation with Co-Q10 (100mg/kg) or vehicle (soybean oil, 10ml/kg) began until PND36. The following were performed on the offspring: Open Field test (PND32), Social Playing Behavior (PND33-34) and Forced Swimming (PND35-36) on the same animals, with n=8 animals per group. The animals were weighed every three days throughout the experiment to evaluate the weight gain of the offspring. The results were evaluated using GraphPad software version 8.0 and analyzed using the student's t test or two-way ANOVA, followed by the Bonferroni post-test. Regarding CM, there was an increase in the percentage of maternal parameters in the NR group compared to the NN group. Regarding offspring weight gain, the NR group showed greater body weight gain compared to the NN group from PND16 onwards, maintaining this until PND36. In the Social Playing Behavior test, there was a difference between the litters, as follows: animals in the NR vehicle groups showed less social interaction time when compared to the NN vehicle groups; animals in the NR Co-Q10 group showed shorter social interaction times when compared to animals in the NN Co-Q10 group. However, there was no difference between the groups in relation to treatments, both for the animals in the NR groups and for the animals in the NN groups. In the Forced Swim test, male and female animals from the NR vehicle groups showed longer immobility time compared to the NN vehicle groups; the NR Co-Q10 groups showed shorter immobility time compared to the NR vehicle groups. It is concluded, therefore, that supplementation with Co-Q10 was able to attenuate depressive-type parameters in the offspring, evidenced in the forced swimming test. There was no difference regarding exploratory locomotor activity in the Open Field test.