Treatment with Capsinoids Promotes Impaired Cardiomyocyte Contractility in Obesity without Positively Modulating...

Capsinoids (Cap) are bioactive compounds with thermogenic properties capable of promoting physiological changes and aiding digestion, potentially influencing fat loss in obesity. However, their effects on cardiac tissue remain unclear.

This study investigated the effects of chronic Cap administration on cardiac contractility and morphology in obese (Ob) rats induced by a saturated high-fat diet (HFD).

Male Wistar rats were assigned to standard diet (SD) or HFD groups for 19 weeks. After this period, animals were redistributed into Control (C), Obese (Ob), and Obese supplemented with capsinoids (ObCap). The ObCap group received Cap via orogastric gavage (10 mg/kg). Nutritional assessments, dietary profile, histological analyses, comorbidities, and cardiac evaluations were performed. A significance level of 5% was adopted for all tests.

Fat deposits and total adiposity were higher in Ob animals compared with the C group, with no differences between Ob and ObCap. Metabolic, hormonal, and lipid alterations were observed between Ob and ObCap. No differences in cardiac morphometry were detected among groups. The ObCap group exhibited reduced fractional shortening compared with Ob. Regarding shortening time, Ob animals showed a decrease compared with C, whereas ObCap showed an increase compared with Ob.

Treatment with Cap did not prevent excessive fat accumulation nor improve metabolic parameters in obesity. Moreover, it impaired cardiomyocyte contractility.