n-3 PUFA have shown potential anti-obesity and insulin-sensitising properties. However, the mechanisms involved are not clearly established. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of EPA administration, one of then-3 PUFA, on body-weight gain and adiposity in rats fed on a standard or a high-fat (cafeteria) diet. The actions on white adipose tissue lipolysis, apoptosis and on several genes related to obesity and insulin resistance were also studied. Control and cafeteria-induced overweight male Wistar rats were assigned into two subgroups, one of them daily received EPA ethyl ester (1 g/kg) for 5 weeks by oral administration. The high-fat diet induced a very significant increase in both body weight and fat mass. Rats fed with the cafeteria diet and orally treated with EPA showed a marginally lower body-weight gain (P = 0·09), a decrease in food intake (P < 0·01) and an increase in leptin production (P < 0·05). EPA administration reduced retroperitoneal adipose tissue weight (P < 0·05) which could be secondary to the inhibition of the adipogenic transcription factor PPARγ gene expression (P < 0·001), and also to the increase in apoptosis (P < 0·05) found in rats fed with a control diet. TNFα gene expression was significantly increased (P < 0·05) by the cafeteria diet, while EPA treatment was able to prevent (P < 0·01) the rise in this inflammatory cytokine. Adiposity-corrected adiponectin plasma levels were increased by EPA. These actions on both TNFα and adiponectin could explain the beneficial effects of EPA on insulin resistance induced by the cafeteria diet.

Introduction: Increased bacterial translocation and alterations to gut microbiota composition have been described in HIV infection and contribute to immune activation and inflammation. These effects persist despite combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). However, the contribution of different cART combinations has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to analyse the long‐term effects of different combinations of cART on bacterial translocation and gut microbiota composition in HIV‐infected patients.Methods: We carried out a cross‐sectional study of 45 HIV‐infected patients on cART, classified as nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)+ protease inhibitors (PIs) (n = 15), NRTIs+ non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) (n = 22), and NRTIs+ integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) (n = 8). Untreated HIV‐infected patients (n = 5) and non‐infected volunteers (n = 21) were also included. Soluble markers of bacterial translocation and inflammation were measured and gut microbiota composition was analysed using 16S rDNA pyrosequencing (Illumina MiSeq).Results: The NRTIs+INSTIs regimen was associated with levels of systemic inflammation that were similar to uninfected controls. The reduction in faecal bacterial diversity induced by HIV infection was also restored by this regimen. HIV infection was more closely related to changes in lower taxonomic units and diversity rather than at the phylum level. The NRTIs+PIs regimen showed the highest reduction in bacterial species, whereas NRTIs+INSTIs induced a minor loss of bacterial species and a significant increase in others.Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that INSTI‐based ART was associated with levels of systemic inflammation and microbial diversity similar to that of uninfected controls. The role of INSTIs other than raltegravir needs to be further investigated. Patients on the NRTIs+PIs regimen presented the highest reduction in bacterial species compared with other antiretrovirals and naive patients. Thus, different cART regimens are associated with diverse profiles in gut microbiota composition. Longitudinal and functional studies are needed to better understand these findings.