Abstract Summary/Description
Western diet categorized by high levels of fat, sugar, and salt is strongly linked to increased oxidative stress, contributing to progression of chronic pulmonary diseases. Blueberries (BB), rich in polyphenols, have been studied for their potential to mitigate oxidative damage. This study investigates effects of BB supplementation on oxidative stress markers in lungs of mice consuming a high-fat, high-sucrose, high-salt (HFHSS) diet. UM-HET3 male mice were fed a control diet (low-fat, low-sucrose, low-salt, LFLSS) alone or supplemented with 5% BB for four weeks. Animals were then maintained on LFLSS diet (n = 7), switched to HFHSS diet (n = 8), or HFHSS + 5% BB (n = 10) for 12 weeks. Lungs of sacrificed animals were analyzed for protein expression of antioxidant enzymes using Western blot. Data were assessed for normality (Shapiro-Wilk test) and differences were compared using one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s posthoc test. Heme-oxygenase (HO)-1 expression was significantly decreased in HFHSS group, which was not prevented by BB supplementation suggesting a compensatory mechanism to the HFHSS diet. Glutathione peroxidase (GPx)-3 and superoxide dismutase (SOD)2 showed no differences between groups, while GPx-1 was significantly lowered in the HFHSS + BB group compared to control potentially indicating that BB conferred early antioxidant protection, mitigating oxidative stress during the initial four weeks. Preliminary data does not directly confirm protective properties of BB against oxidative stress in lungs of mice. Further analysis is ongoing.
