Ferulic acid in Lolium multiflorum inhibits adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and reduced high-fat-diet-induced obesity in Swiss albino mice via regulating p38MAPK and p44/42 signal pathways

Abstract

Ferulic acid (FA), a ubiquitous natural phenolic component found in many plants and fruits, has a wide range of biomedical applications. However, action mechanism of FA involved in lipid accumulation remains unclear. In this study, lipid accumulation and changes in expression levels of genes and proteins associated with adipocyte differentiation were investigated. Oil red O staining and glycerol accumulation assay revealed that FA decreased lipid accumulation in cells. FA downregulated expression levels of C/EBP-β, C/EBP-α, PPAR-γ, and SREBP-1, but upregulated expression levels of p38MAPK, p44/42 (Erk 1/2), and AMPK-α phosphorylation in 3T3-L1 cells. FA effects on high fat diet-induced (HFD) obese mice were also investigated. FA lowered HFD-induced body weight gain of obese mice without affecting regular food intake. FA reduced serum levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides in HFD obese mice. Similar to results of in vitro study, FA inhibited adipogenesis and lipid accumulation via downregulating PPAR-γ while upregulating p38MAPK, p44/42 (Erk 1/2), and AMPK-α phosphorylation in Swiss albino mice.