Anti-obesity Effect of Mulberry Anthocyanins in C57BL/6J Mice

Abstract

Background: In this study, we evaluated the anti-obesity effects of purified mulberry anthocyanins using PB-600 macroporous resin (RPA), and investigated their effects on the weight of the body, liver, and epididymal white adipose tissue, lipid profiles, and mRNA gene expression for lipid metabolism in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese C57BL/6J male mice.<BR>Methods and Results: Four-week-old C57BL/6J mice (n = 12/group) were fed an HFD (HFD group) with RPA (HFD + RPA group, 5,000 ㎎/㎏/day, 761.85 ㎎· cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalent/g) for 12 weeks. Mice fed HFD showed increased body weight, insulin resistance, and serum and hepatic lipid levels. In comparison, the HFD + RPA group showed significantly lower body weight and fat mass with a decreasing food efficiency ratio than the HFD control mice. Additionally, the RPA group showed significantly lower levels of total cholesterol and blood glucose, decreased homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) score, attenuated lipid accumulation, and decreased leptin secretion. Regarding the mRNA expression of genes related to anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory properties, RPA decreased the expression levels of PPARγ, FAS, IL-6, and TNFα, compared to the HFD control, while increased the CPT 1 expression levels increased.<BR>Conclusions: These results confirm that RPA, a purified mulberry anthocyanin has anti-obesity, and anti-inflammatory effects and could be used for functional and health-promoting activities, such as reducing obesity and insulin resistance at high doses in obese animals models.