Anti-Obesity Effects of Water Extracts from Different Organs of Cirsium japonicum var. ussuriense

Abstract

of flowers, leaves and roots from C. japonicum var. ussuriense. Total polyphenol amounts of the flower extract showed higher than those of leaf and root extract. Flower extract also showed the high antioxidant activities such as DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing power. We also investigated the anti-obesity effects of water extracts of flowers, leaves and roots from C. japonicum var. ussuriense in 3T3-L1 cells and high fat diet-induced obesity mice. The mice were divided into four groups (high fat diet (HFD) control, HFD + leaf extract, HFD + flower extract and root extract) and administered with each extract (200 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. The flower and leaf extract significantly suppressed the levels of oil red O and triglyceride content. The flower and leaf extract also significantly reduced the triglyceride, total cholesterol and lower density lipoprotein levels of plasma as well as body and abdominal fat weight. Furthermore, oral glucose tolerance in the flower and leaf extract groups were significantly ameliorated in comparison to the high fat diet group. Therefore, these results indicate that the flower and leaf extract could ameliorate obesity and attenuate blood glucose level in high fat diet-induced obesity mice. We conclude that this study may provide positive insights into water extracts of flowers and leaves from C. japonicum var. ussuriense as a functional food ingredient for treatment of obesity.