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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1505453
This article is part of the Research Topic Edible Oil: Extraction Technology, Detection Method, Quality and Nutrition Evaluation View all 3 articles

African Walnut (Plukenetia conophora) Oil Promotes Glucose Uptake whilst Improving Energy Metabolism and Steroidogenesis, and Maintaining Surface Architecture in Rat Testes

Provisionally accepted
Ochuko Lucky Erukainure Ochuko Lucky Erukainure 1*Chika I Chukwuma Chika I Chukwuma 2
  • 1 Laser Research Center, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
  • 2 Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: African walnut (Plukenetia conophora) oil (AWO) has been reported for their nutritional and medicinal properties and has been employed for the management of metabolic diseases including hyperglycemia-mediated ailments.Objective: In the present study, AWO was investigated for its ability to stimulate glucose uptake and its effect on energy metabolism, steroidogenesis and tissue morphology in isolated testes of Sprague-Dawley rats.Methods: Isolated testes. Isolated testes were incubated with AWO (30-240 μg/mL) in the presence of 11.1 mMol glucose at 37 ˚C for 2 h. Control consisted of testes incubated with glucose only, while normal control consisted of testes not incubated with AWO and/or glucose. The standard antidiabetic drug was metformin.Incubation with AWO led to significant increase in glucose uptake, hexokinase, glyoxalase 1, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activities, GLUT4, glutathione and ATP levels, while concomitantly suppressing glucose 6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-biphosphatase, glycogen phosphorylase, aldose reductase, polyol dehydrogenase, ENTPDase, and ATPase activities. Furthermore, incubation with AWO led to improved testicular morphology, while elevating testicular levels of magnesium, sulfur, potassium, calcium and iron. Fatty acid profiling with GC-MS revealed linoleic acid and linolenic acid as the predominant essential fatty acids in AWO. Molecular docking analysis revealed potent molecular interactions of linoleic acid and linolenic acid with GLUT4. These results suggest the ability of African walnut oil to improve testicular glucose metabolism and steroidogenesis and can be explored in the management of male infertility.

    Keywords: African walnut, Essential fatty acids, glucose metabolism, male fertility, and Steroidogenesis

    Received: 02 Oct 2024; Accepted: 30 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Erukainure and Chukwuma. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ochuko Lucky Erukainure, Laser Research Center, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, 2092, Gauteng, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.