Key result
Ellagic acid markedly reduces myocardial fibrosis and AGE accumulation in diet-induced cardiometabolic animal models.
Why the study?
The protective effects of ellagic acid against high-fat, high-sucrose diet-induced cardiac fibrosis and its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear.
Does ellagic acid supplementation attenuate high-fat, high-sucrose diet-induced cardiac fibrosis and metabolic dysfunction in male Wistar rats?
RCT (n=24)
Randomly assigned
Does ellagic acid supplementation attenuate high-fat, high-sucrose diet-induced cardiac fibrosis and metabolic dysfunction in male Wistar rats?
Ellagic acid supplementation attenuates cardiac fibrosis and metabolic dysfunction in a rat model of high-fat, high-sucrose diet-induced injury.
EA attenuated HFHS-induced cardiac fibrosis in rats; hypothesis-generating for metabolic cardiomyopathy, requiring human translation studies.
A high-fat, high-sucrose (HFHS) diet promotes insulin resistance and accelerates cardiac fibrosis (CF) through advanced glycation end products (AGEs), oxidative stress, and inflammation. Ellagic acid (EA) possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-glycation properties; however, its protective effects against CF and underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated EA’s effects on HFHS-induced CF. Two-month-old male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 6/group): control, control + 2% EA, HFHS, and HFHS + 2% EA, and maintained on respective diets for six months. Metabolic parameters, oxidative stress, AGE-related markers, histopathology, immunoblotting, and immunohistological analyses were performed. HFHS feeding induced metabolic dysfunction characterized by weight gain, increased fasting blood glucose levels, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, myocardial disorganization, AGE accumulation, receptor for AGE (RAGE) activation, collagen deposition, and fibrotic marker expression- alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). EA supplementation significantly improved metabolic abnormalities, reduced myocardial collagen fraction, AGE accumulation, RAGE activation, and α-SMA expression, thereby protecting against HFHS-induced CF.
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Gurrala et al. (2026) conducted an RCT in High-Fat, High-Sucrose Diet-Induced Cardiac Fibrosis (n=24). Ellagic acid vs. Control and HFHS diet without ellagic acid was evaluated on Metabolic abnormalities, myocardial collagen fraction, AGE accumulation, RAGE activation, and α-SMA expression. Ellagic acid supplementation significantly improved metabolic abnormalities and reduced myocardial collagen fraction, AGE accumulation, and RAGE activation in rats fed a high-fat, high-sucrose diet.
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