Improvement of Cardiac Fibrosis Biomarkers through Inflammation Inhibition by Green Tea and Green Coffee Extract Combination Administration in Metabolic Syndrome Rat Model

<ns5:p> Background Metabolic syndrome is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Green tea and green coffee extracts, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents may participate in metabolic syndrome-induced cardiac fibrosis alleviation. However, the effect of combination of those extracts still needs exploration. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of green tea and green coffee extracts and their combination in metabolic syndrome-induced cardiac fibrosis rats. Methods Metabolic syndrome rat model was i1nduced through high-fat high sucrose diets feeding for 8 weeks and injection of low dose streptozotocin at the 2nd week. The metabolic syndrome rats were divided into 4 experimental groups metabolic syndrome rats (MS); metabolic syndrome rats treated with 300 mg/kg b.w green tea extract (GT); metabolic syndrome rats treated with 200 mg/kg b.w green coffee extract (GC); metabolic syndrome rats treated with the combination of the two extracts (CE); and a normal control (NC) group was added. Angiotensin 2 level was analyzed by ELISA method. Gene expression of <ns5:italic>NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-6, Tgf-β1, Rac-1,</ns5:italic> and <ns5:italic>α-sma</ns5:italic> were analyzed by touchdown polymerase chain reaction methods. Results Metabolic syndrome rats treated with green tea and green coffee extracts significantly decreased angiotensin-2 serum level and cardiac inflammation and fibrosis gene expression level ( <ns5:italic>NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-6, Tgf-β1, Rac-1,</ns5:italic> and <ns5:italic>α-sma</ns5:italic> ). More significant alleviation was observed in the combination group. Conclusion This study suggested that combination of green tea and green coffee extracts showed better improvement in metabolic syndrome-induced cardiac fibrosis rat model compared to that of single extract administration through inflammation inhibition. </ns5:p>