How can a minute crustacean found in the Norwegian seas help to normalize cardiac metabolism in obese subjects? Associate Editor Fabio Recchia (Temple University and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna) interviews first author Kirsten Jansen (UiT The Arctic University of Norway) and expert Luc Bertrand (Université Catholique de Louvain) about the innovative new study by Jansen and co-authors. Using a mouse model of high fat diet-induced obesity, Jansen and collaborators showed that 8 weeks of food supplementation with a small amount (just 2%) of dietary Calanus oil, which is derived from the marine zooplankton Calanus finmarchicus, improved cardiac function after 20 minutes of global ischemia. The unique fatty acid composition of the wax esters in Calanus oil is expected to activate GPR 120 (an omega-3 fatty acid receptor) in the gut, causing secretion of GLP-1 and release of insulin from pancreatic beta-cells. What is the link between Calanus oil and a decrease in intra-abdominal fat deposition, glucose metabolism recovery in the heart, and calcium handling? Listen now.

 

Kirsten Maria Jansen, Sonia Moreno, Pablo M. Garcia-Roves PhD, and Terje S. Larsen Dietary Calanus oil recovers metabolic flexibility and rescues post-ischemic cardiac function in obese female mice Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published May 24, 2019. DOI: doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00191.2019