IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 11 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2811312
Open Access Original Research
Effect of Low-Dose Progesterone on Glycemic Metabolism, Morphology and Function of Adipose Tissue and Pancreatic Islets in Diet-Induced Obese Female Mice
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1 Biosciences Studies Group, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, 03828-000 São Paulo, Brazil
2 Sport Biology Research Group, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, 03828-000 São Paulo, Brazil
3 Department of Experimental Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, 01246-903 São Paulo, Brazil
4 Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, Brazil
5 Heart Institute, University of São Paulo, 05403-900 São Paulo, Brazil
6 Translational Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, 04023-062 São Paulo, Brazil
7 Nutritional Genomics and Inflammation Laboratory, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, 01246-904 São Paulo, Brazil
8 Renal, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Physiopharmacology Laboratory, Health and Biological Science Center, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, 01303-060 São Paulo, Brazil
*Correspondence: karenina@usp.br (Anna Karenina Azevedo-Martins)
These authors contributed equally.
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(11), 312; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2811312
Submitted: 17 February 2023 | Revised: 30 May 2023 | Accepted: 12 July 2023 | Published: 28 November 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Obesity is a worldwide concern due to its global rapid expansion and remarkable impact on individual’s health by predisposing to several other diseases. About twice as many women as men suffer from severe obesity and, in fact, there are stages in a woman’s life when weight gain and adiposity can result in greater damage to health. For example, obesity triples the chance of a woman developing gestational diabetes. Many hormones promote the metabolic adaptations of pregnancy, including progesterone, whose role in female obesity is still not well known despite being involved in many physiological and pathological processes. Methods: Here we investigated whether progesterone treatment at low dose can worsen the glucose metabolism and the morpho functional aspects of adipose tissue and pancreas in obese females. Mice were assigned into four groups: normocaloric diet control (NO-CO), high-fat and -fructose diet control (HFF-CO), normocaloric diet plus progesterone (NO-PG) and high-fat and -fructose diet plus progesterone (HFF-PG) for 10 weeks. Infusion of progesterone (0.25 mg/kg/day) was done by osmotic minipump in the last 21 days of protocol. Results: Animals fed a hypercaloric diet exhibited obesity with increased body weight (p < 0.0001), adipocyte hypertrophy (p < 0.0001), hyperglycemia (p = 0.03), and glucose intolerance (p = 0.001). HFF-CO and HFF-PG groups showed lower adiponectin concentration (p < 0.0001) and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (p = 0.03), without differences in islet size. Progesterone attenuated glucose intolerance in the HFF-PG group (p = 0.03), however, did not change morphology or endocrine function of adipose tissue and pancreatic islets. Conclusions: Taken together, our results showed that low dose of progesterone does not worsen the effects of hypercaloric diet in glycemic metabolism, morphology and function of adipose tissue and pancreatic islets in female animals. These results may improve the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of obesity in women and eventually open new avenues for therapeutic strategies and better comprehension of the interactions between progesterone effects and obesity.

Keywords
obesity
hypercaloric diet
females
progesterone
adipose tissue
pancreatic islets
Funding
18/22361-9/São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
Figures
Fig. 1.
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