Citrange Fruit Extracts Alleviate Obesity-Associated Metabolic Disorder in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese C57BL/6 Mouse

Yan Lu,Wanpeng Xi,Shengjie Fan,Yu Zhang,Zhiqin Zhou,Cheng Huang,Xiaobo Ding,Yiming Li,Dong Jiang

doi:10.3390/ijms141223736

Abstract

Obesity is becoming one of the global epidemics of the 21st century. In this study, the effects of citrange (Citrus sinensis × Poncirus trifoliata) fruit extracts in high-fat (HF) diet-induced obesity mice were studied. Female C57BL/6 mice were fed respectively a chow diet (control), an HF diet, HF diet supplemented with 1% w/w citrange peel extract (CPE) or 1% w/w citrange flesh and seed extract (CFSE) for 8 weeks. Our results showed that both CPE and CFSE regulated the glucose metabolic disorders of obese mice. In CPE and CFSE-treated groups, the body weight gain, blood glucose, serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced relative to those in the HF group. To explore the mechanisms of action of CPE and CFSE on the metabolism of glucose and lipid, related genes’ expressions in liver were assayed. In liver tissue, the expression level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and its target genes were down-regulated by CPE and CFSE supplementation as revealed by qPCR tests. In addition, both CPE and CFSE decreased the expression level of liver X receptor (LXR) α and β, which are involved in lipid and glucose metabolism. Taken together, these results suggest that CPE and CFSE administration could ameliorate obesity and related metabolic disorders in HF diet-induced obesity mice probably through the inhibition of PPARγ and LXRs gene expressions.

Highlights

It was estimated that there are about 1.4 billion adults who are overweight and potentially suffering from obesity [1]
No significant difference was found in ACC expression between HF + citrange peel extract (CPE), HF + citrange flesh and seed extract (CFSE), and HF groups. These results suggested that CPE and CFSE could improve the lipid and glucose homeostasis by partly regulating the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and its target genes
We found that the main flavonoids in CPE were neohesperidin, neoeriocitrin, poncirin and naringin, while in CFSE, there were poncirin, neohesperidin and naringin

Summary

Introduction

It was estimated that there are about 1.4 billion adults who are overweight and potentially suffering from obesity [1]. Plant bioactive compounds were proved to be effective in the prevention and treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders [5,6,7]. Active plant components and their health promotion functions have become the focus of multidisciplinary studies, and the results obtained suggested that dietary intervention could be an effective management strategy for overweight and obesity-related metabolic disorders [8,9]. The immature Citrus sunki peel extract was reported to have anti-obesity effect by increasing β-oxidation and lipolysis in the adipose tissue of HF diet-induced obesity mice [22]. In our previous study, Citrus ichangensis peel extract was found to have anti-metabolic disorder effects in high-fat diet-induced C57BL/6 mouse [23]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion