Effect of Dietary Content of Menhaden Oil with or without Salsalate on Neuropathic Endpoints in High-Fat-FedLow-Dose Streptozotocin-Treated Sprague Dawley Rats

Abstract EN

In this study, we wanted to extend our investigation of the efficacy of fish oil with or without salsalate on vascular and neural complications using a type 2 diabetic rat model.

Four weeks after the onset of hyperglycemia, diabetic rats were treated via the diet with 3 different amounts of menhaden oil with or without salsalate for 12 weeks.

Afterwards, vascular reactivity of epineurial arterioles and neuropathy-related endpoints were examined.

The addition of salsalate to high-fat diets enriched with 10% or 25% kcal of menhaden oil protected vascular reactivity to acetylcholine and calcium gene-related peptide, motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity, thermal nociception, intraepidermal nerve fiber density, and cornea sensitivity to a greater extent than 10% or 25% menhaden oil alone.

Vascular and neural function was maximally protected with diet containing 45% kcal as menhaden oil, and adding salsalate did not provide any additional benefit.

Salsalate alone in the high-fat diet of diabetic rats provided minimal protection/improvement of vascular and neural dysfunction.

These studies imply that dietary salsalate in combination with lower amounts of menhaden oil can provide greater benefit toward diabetes-induced vascular and neural impairment than menhaden oil alone.