Dietary habits are crucially important to prevent the development of lifestyle-associated\ndiseases. Diets supplemented with chickpeas have numerous benefits and are known to improve body\nfat composition. The present study was undertaken to characterize two genetically and phenotypically\ndistinct accessions, MG_13 and PI358934, selected from a global chickpea collection. Rat hepatoma\nFaO cells treated with a mixture of free fatty acids (FFAs) (O/P) were used as an in vitro model of\nhepatic steatosis. In parallel, a high-fat diet (HFD) animal model was also established. In vitro\nand in vivo studies revealed that both chickpea accessions showed a significant antioxidant ability.\nHowever, only MG_13 reduced the lipid over-accumulation in steatotic FaO cells and in the liver\nof HFD fed mice. Moreover, mice fed with HFD + MG_13 displayed a lower level of glycemia and\naspartate aminotransferase (AST) than HFD mice. Interestingly, exposure to MG_13 prevented the\nphosphorylation of the inflammatory nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kB) which is upregulated during\nHFD and known to be linked to obesity. To conclude, the comparison of the two distinct chickpea\naccessions revealed a beneficial effect only for the MG_13. These findings highlight the importance of\nstudies addressing the functional characterization of chickpea biodiversity and nutraceutical properties
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