Anti-obesity Effects of Juniperus chinensis Extract Are Associated with Increased AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Expression and Phosphorylation in the Visceral Adipose Tissue of Rats

Abstract

This study evaluates the protective effect of Juniperus chinensis hot water extract (JCE) against high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity and its molecular mechanisms in the visceral adipose tissue of rats. JCE supplementation significantly lowered body weight gain, visceral fat-pad weights, blood lipid levels, and blood insulin and leptin levels of rats rendered obese by an HFD. Feeding with JCE significantly reversed the HFD-induced down-regulation of the epididymal adipose tissue genes implicated in adipogenesis, such as the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma2 (PPARgamma2), adipocyte protein 2 (aP2), sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR), as well as those involved in uncoupled respiration, such as the uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) and uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3). Dietary supplementation with JCE also reversed the HFD-induced decreases in the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the acetyl-CoA carboxylase 2 (ACC2) expressions at both the mRNA and protein levels and restored the HFD-induced inhibitions in the AMPK and ACC2 phosphorylation, which are related to fatty acid beta-oxidation, in the epididymal adipose tissue. This study reports, for the first time, that the JCE can have an anti-obesity effect in a rodent model with HFD-induced obesity through an enhanced gene transcription of the uncoupling protein as well as an elevated AMPK protein expression and phosphorylation in the visceral adipose tissue.