Abstract
Valeriana dageletiana Nakai ex F. Maek (VD) has been used as traditional medicine for the treatment of restlessness and sleeping disorders. However, it is still unclear whether obesity in mice can be altered by diet supplementation with VD. In this study, we first investigated the influences of VD on the accumulation of lipid content in 3T3-L1 cells; and the results showed that the above-ground VD extracts (VDAE) suppressed the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a concentration-dependent manner without cytotoxicity. Thus, the effects of VDAE on preventing obesity were then studied in the C57BL/6N mice for 10 weeks (n = 6): normal-fat diet, high-fat diet (HFD), HFD supplemented with 1% (10 g/kg) Garcinia combogia extract (positive control), and HFD supplemented with 1% (10 g/kg) VDAE. The results showed that VDAE reduced food efficiency ratio, body weight, epididymal adipose and hepatic tissue weight, hepatic lipid metabolites, and triacylglycerol and cholesterol serum levels compared to the high-fat diet group. Moreover, VD significantly inhibited the expression of adipogenic genes, such as PPAR-γ, C/EBP-α, and aP2, and lipogenic genes, such as SREBP-1c, FAS, SCD-1, and CD36, in epididymal adipose tissue and hepatic tissue. These findings indicate anti-adipogenic and anti-lipogenic effects of VDAE and suggest that it could be a potent functional food ingredient for the prevention of high-fat diet-induced obesity.
Highlights
Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has increased and accelerated worldwide [1] and more than one billion people are expected to be obese by the year 2020 [2]
To determine whether obesity in mice can be ameliorated by diet supplementation with VD, in this study, the anti-adipogenic effects of extracts from the upper part of the plant and root of VD were first investigated and compared in 3T3-L1 adipocytes; we examined the anti-obesity effects of the extract from the upper part of VD, known as the edible part of the plant, in high-fat-diet-induced obese mice
The asterisk indicates a significant difference compared to high-fat diet (HFD) group
Summary
Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has increased and accelerated worldwide [1] and more than one billion people are expected to be obese by the year 2020 [2]. Obesity results from an energy balance disorder between calorie intake and energy excess, in which extra energy is stored as triglyceride through adipogenesis and lipid accumulation in adipose tissue, liver, and other organs [3]. Obesity induced by adipogenesis and lipid accumulation in organelles can cause diabetes in 44% of cases, ischemic heart disease in 23% of cases, and specific cancers in 7–41% of cases [4]. Nutrients, and transcription factors regulate lipid accumulation during adipocyte differentiation [5]. The regulation of adipogenic transcriptional factor mRNA levels, such as peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α (C/EBP-α), sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP-1c), and related genes (aP2, FAS), plays a key role in the Nutrients 2017, 9, 689; doi:10.3390/nu9070689 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients
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