Presentation description

Ceramides are sphingolipids that play a major role in cell membrane integrity, signal transduction, and cellular differentiation. In excess, free circulating ceramides influence lipid deposition into tissues unsuited for lipid containment, such as vasculature and the pancreas. This leads to lipotoxic comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Dietary intervention may be a potential strategy to alleviate ceramides. Evidence has indicated that fruit and vegetable intake reduces circulating ceramides in overweight young adults. Strawberries are rich in phytochemicals such as anthocyanins, which benefit the cardiovascular system. Our lab recently found that C57BL/6J mice fed strawberries (at physiologically relevant dosages equivalent to ~2 human servings) for 12 weeks reduce eight circulating ceramides in high-fat diet-fed mice. Most importantly, strawberries reduced the ceramides such as Cer(d18:1/16:0) and Cer(t18:0/24.1), which are strongly associated with cardiovascular disease in humans. We are now testing our hypothesis that dietary strawberries reduce ceramides by impacting the enzymes involved in the de novo synthesis of ceramides. We will identify whether dietary strawberries reduce mRNA and protein expression of these key liver enzymes by qPCR and Western Blot, respectively. Specifically, we will focus on serine palmitoyl transferase, ceramide synthases 1-6, and dihydroceramide desaturase 1-2. Our study will identify whether dietary strawberries have the potential to reduce ceramide-induced cardiovascular complications.