Quercetin (Q; 3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone) is considered as a promising component of specialized products for the correction of metabolic disorders in obesity and metabolic syndrome. At the same time, the results of evaluating the clinical efficacy of Q are ambiguous, and the mechanisms of its influence on lipid and carbohydrate-energy metabolism are not well understood. The aim of the work was to study the effect of quercetin (Q3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyfla-vone) on the expression of key glycolysis and lipogenesis enzymes' genes in Zucker-Leprfa (Z) rats characterized by hereditary obesity, compared to wild-type Wistar (W) rats. Material and methods. 24 male Z rats and 32 male W rats aged 8-10 weeks were used. Animals of each line were divided into 4 groups of equal numbers. For 62 days the animals of the first groups (controls) received a balanced diet according to AIN93M, the seconds -the same diet with Q added in a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight. Animals of the third groups received a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet (HFCD) with fat 30% by weight and with the replacement of drinking water with a 20% solution of fructose, the fourths groups - the same diet and supplementation with Q, After removing animals from the experiment, expression levels of liver carbohydrate and lipid metabolism genes Khk, Gck, Pklr, Acaca, Fasn, Scd, Srebf1, Mlxipl, Ppara and Pparg were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with reverse transcription using Actb and Gapdh as reference genes. The levels of triglycerides, total and HDL cholesterol, lipolytic activity and immu-noreactive leptin were determined in plasma. Results and discussion. When comparing two animal lines, a significantly higher level of expression of Ppara, Pparg, Mlxipl, Acaca, Fasn, Scd was shown in Z rats compared to W rats, which is consistent with the development of dyslipidemia in the first ones and elevated levels of leptin under both types of diets used. The addition of Q caused in W rats a decrease in the expression of Scd, Mlxipl, Khk and Gck, more pronounced on the background of HFCD whereas in Z rats there were no similar effects, or they had the opposite direction. In addition, in Z rats, consumption of Q led to increased expression of Pklr, which was not observed in W rats. Conclusion. The modulating effect of Q on the expression of key genes of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism enzymes significantly differs in wild-type W rats and mutant Z rats with hereditary obesity, and this difference appears to be potentiated by the consumption of excess fat and fructose.
