Figures index : Addition of Opuntia ficus-indica Reduces Hypothalamic Microglial Activation and Improves Metabolic Alterations in Obese Mice Exposed to a High-fat Diet : Science and Education Publishing

Figures index

Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2020, 8(9), 473-483 doi:10.12691/jfnr-8-9-4

Figure 1. Body weight over 12 weeks A) Diet-induced obesity in mice treated with a High Fat Diet (HFD) and the comparison with standard diet (SD), n=14 on each group. B) Weekly body weight change, C) Cumulative feed intake in g and kcal and D) Feed efficiency under cactus treatment of groups of mice fed with standard diet (SD), standard-diet with cactus flour (SD-CF), high fat diet (HFD) and high fat diet with cactus flour (HFD-CF); n=7 in each group. Two-way ANOVA (repeated measures for A and B) and one-way ANOVA (for C and D) followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test. Data shown in means ± SEM. *P<0.05 vs SD

Figure 2. Blood glucose levels and area under the curve (AUC) of the experimental groups of mice. A) Glucose tolerance test (GTT) performed on the different groups of mice fed with standard diet (SD), standard-diet with cactus flour (SD-CF), high fat diet (HFD) and high fat diet with cactus flour (HFD-CF). B) AUC of GTT of the same groups. C) Insulin tolerance test (ITT) performed on all the groups. D) AUC of ITT of the groups. Analyzed with two-way ANOVA with a Bonferroni’s post hoc test, data shown in means ± SEM, n=7 *P<0.05 vs SD

Figure 3. Behavioral satiety sequence (BSS) of the different groups of mice. Time in seconds spent in the BSS of Standard Diet group (A), Standard Diet + Cactus Flour (B), High Fat Diet (C) and High Fat Diet + Cactus Flour (D). The vertical line shows the point of satiety where the feeding and resting line crosses. Food consumption is shown in grams (E) and in kcal (F) of the SD, SD-CF, HFD and HFD-CF groups of mice. One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test was used. Data showed in means ± SEM, n=6, P≤0.05 vs *SD or ⁺HFD

Figure 4. Quantity of adipose tissue: A) Epididimal (g) and B) Retroperitoneal (mg) adipose tissue amount of mice fed with standard diet (SD), standard-diet with cactus flour (SD-CF), high fat diet (HFD) and high fat diet with cactus flour (HFD-CF), after 4 weeks of cactus/fiber treatment. Data analyzed with one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test, showed in means ± SEM. n=7 *P<0.05 vs SD

Figure 5. Micrography of hypothalamic coronal sections showing the Arcuate Nucleus (10X) of mice fed with A) Standard Diet (SD), B) Standard Diet with Cactus Flour (SD-CF) , C) High Fat Diet (HFD) and D) High Fat Diet with Cactus Flour (HFD-CF). 3V is the third ventricle. E) Total microglial density (cell number/mm²) in the arcuate nucleus and F) Activated microglial density (cell number/mm²) in the arcuate Nucleus of SD, SD-CF, HFD and HFD-CF groups. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test, shown in means ± SEM n=7, *P≤0.05 vs SD