Metabolic syndrome is a serious consequence of obesity characterized by increased cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, and glucose intolerance. While diets enriched with natural antioxidants showed beneficial effects on oxidative stress, blood pressure, and serum lipid composition, diet supplementation with synthetic antioxidants showed contradictive results. Thus, we tested, in this study, whether a daily dosage of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) would affect cardiovascular risk factor associated with obesity in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemic Wistar rats. Obese rats showed increased serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and atherogenic index after 6 and 9 weeks of being fed an HFD. Importantly, ACV ameliorated all of these parameters significantly. Oxidative stress already developed after 6 weeks of HFD and was significantly reduced by daily doses of ACV. Oral administration of ACV normalized various biochemical and metabolic changes since it exhibited a very significant (P < .001) reduction in malondialdehyde levels, whereas an increase in thiol group concentrations and antioxidant status (superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione peroxidase [GPx], and catalase [CAT] activities and vitamin E concentrations). In addition, a modulation in trace element levels was observed when compared with HFD groups. These findings suggested that HFD alters the oxidant-antioxidant balance, as evidenced by a reduction in the antioxidant enzyme activities and vitamin E level, and enhanced lipid peroxidation. ACV can be beneficial for the suppression of obesity-induced oxidative stress in HFD rats through the modulating antioxidant defense system and reduces the risk of obesity-associated diseases by preventing the atherogenic risk.
Keywords: atherogenic index; lipid profile; oxidative stress; vinegar.