Green Tea and Green Coffee Therapy for Aortic Calcification Prevention in Metabolic Syndrome Model Rats: Effects on Expression of AKT, mTOR, RUNX2, and Osteopontin Levels

Metabolic syndrome (METS) consists of several independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), one of which is vascular calcification (VC). Increased oxidative stress is essential in the pathogenesis of CVD in METS. One of the pathways involved in the pathogenesis of VC is the AKT pathway. Green tea and green coffee have many health benefits, including treating METS risk factors. Although several benefits of green tea and green coffee are known, there is not much information regarding the effects of these 2 extracts for treating heart disease, which is often found in METS sufferers. This research explores the benefits of green tea and green coffee extracts in preventing VC in METS through the AKT/MTOR mechanism. This research focuses on the mechanism of CVD in the AKT-mTOR, RUNX activity, and osteopontin (OPN) expression as one of the downstream pathogenesis of CVD in METS. The research was conducted on METS model rat treated with metformin and green tea with green coffee extracts. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given a diet high in fat and sugar until they met METS for 4 months, then given treatment for 9 weeks. After 9 weeks, the rat had their aortas isolated for staining with specific antibodies to AKT1, MTOR, RUNX2, and serum OPN levels were measured using ELISA-sandwich methods. There was an increase in the expression of AKT1 and MTOR and a decrease in RUNX2 and OPN2, which was better than rat not treated with green tea and green coffee (p < 0.05). A significant reduction was found in the green tea and green coffee therapy group, which was better than when given metformin alone (p < 0.05). The results of this research showed that there is good potential for therapy using green tea and green coffee extracts to prevent VC in metabolic syndrome models.