Aqueous extract of Clitoria ternatea improves perivascular adipose tissue dysregulation in rats (Rattus norvegicus) with high-fat diet

Objective: Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is an adipose depot found around blood vessels, and its dysregulation is associated withcoronary heart disease and hypertension. This research aimed to investigate the potential of the aqueous extract of Clitoria ternateaextract (CTE), rich in anthocyanins, to improve PVAT dysregulation in rats induced by a high-fat diet.Materials and Methods: Experimental research involved 25 rats (Rattus norvegicus) divided into 5 groups, namely normal diet (ND),high-fat diet (HFD), HFD+CTE250, HFD+CTE500, and HFD+CTE750 mg/kgBW. Rats were fed a high-fat diet for 13 weeks, and CTEwas administered during the last 3 weeks. The PVAT dysregulation was histologically assessed on abdominal aortic samples.Results: Results of the study demonstrated a reduction in the size of white adipose tissue–like perivascular adipose tissue (WAT-likePVAT) of 235.04 μm (95% CI: 71.83–398.24; p = 0.002) in the group given aqueous CTE. A decrease in the cell density of perivascularadipose tissue-like brown adipose tissue (BAT-like PVAT) was also found (MD: 1.98; 95% CI: – 48.59 to 52.55; p = 0.7) in theHFD+CTE250 group compared with the HFD group.Conclusion: The aqueous CTE can improve the dysregulation of WAT-like PVAT and BAT-like PVAT in rats on a high-fat diet.