Grape Processing Waste: A Safe Extract to Alleviate High-Fat-Diet-Induced Lipotoxicity and Energy Fueling Alteration in Rat Heart

During winemaking, large amounts of wastes such as grape pomace and stalks are produced as by-products. Due to the presence of organic compounds, pH, salinity, and heavy metal content, these by-products are regarded as highly polluting. Thus, it is now well established that valorization of this biomass contributes in viability of the environment and the economy. Rich in phytochemicals, grape seeds have been notably considered as a promising source of value-added materials. This study was carried out to analyze the incidence of a High Fat Diet (HFD)-induced lipotoxicity and energy fueling disturbances in rat heart as well as on the putative protection afforded by Grape Seed Extract (GSE). Experimental design consisted in four groups of animals as follows: Standard Diet (SD); SD + GSE (SG); (HFD); HFD + GSE (HG). We showed that GSE counteracted the effect of HFD on Free Fatty Acid (FFA) profile, namely, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid. Besides, GSE treatment restored HFD altered metabolic pathways, through recovery of several metabolic enzyme activities such as lipase, glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase, pyruvate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase. To our knowledge, this is the first study emphasizing the anti-lipotoxic and cardioprotective effects of GSE in relation with FFA profile and energy fueling enzymes, supporting its role as a therapeutic agent in obesity-induced cardiac dysfunction. Graphical Abstract