Carob-fruit-extract-enriched meat modulates lipoprotein metabolism and insulin signaling in diabetic rats induced by high-saturated-fat diet

Insulin resistance (IR) produces qualitative, quantitative and kinetic changes of lipoproteins in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Carob-fruit-extract (CFE) has demonstrated antidiabetic properties but barely studies have evaluated the effect of CFE functional-meat consumption on early stages of T2DM. The current study was designed to analyze the effect of CFE-enriched meat-consumption on lipemia, lipoprotein profile and its relation with IR in T2DM model. Sixteen Wistar rats were divided in: C group, fed high-saturated-fat diet with commercial meat; and CE group, fed high-saturated-fat diet containing CFE-enriched meat. After 8-weeks, C rats showed hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia and increased triglyceride-enriched-VLDL compared to CE animals (p < 0.05). CE group was able to partially block diabetic dyslipidemia and reduce HOMA-IR by showing higher PI3K, pAICT(ser473), GLUT2 and LDL-receptor levels versus their C counterparts (p <= 0.020). In conclusion, CFE-enriched meat-consumption strongly counterbalanced diabetic dyslipidemia by improving insulin signaling, suggesting its being an adequate functional ingredient for T2DM.