Pancreatic islet proteome profile in Zucker fatty rats chronically treated with a grape seed procyanidin extract

Grape seed procyanidin extract (GSPE) has been reported to modify glucose metabolism and β-cell functionality through its lipid-lowering effects in a diet-induced obesity model. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of chronically administrated GSPE on the proteomic profile of pancreatic islets from Zucker fatty (ZF) rats. An isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) experiment was conducted and 31 proteins were found to be differentially expressed in ZF rats treated with GSPE compared to untreated ZF rats. Of these proteins, five subcategories of biological processes emerged: hexose metabolic processes, response to hormone stimulus, apoptosis and cell death, translation and protein folding, and macromolecular complex assembly. Gene expression analysis supported the role of the first three biological processes, concluding that GSPE limits insulin synthesis and secretion and modulates factors involved in apoptosis, but these molecular changes are not sufficient to counteract the genetic background of the Zucker model at a physiological level.