Semen Cuscutae Administration Improves Hepatic Lipid Metabolism and Adiposity in High Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.
Jiyoung MoonMin Jin HaMin-Jeong ShinOh-Yoen KimEun Hye YooJuhyun SongJi Hyung ChungPublished in: Nutrients (2019)
Since arginase has been shown to compete with nitric oxide (NO) synthase, emerging evidence has reported that arginase inhibition improves obesity by increasing NO production. Semen cuscutae (SC), which is a well-known Chinese medicine, has multiple biological functions such as anti-oxidant function and immune regulation. In this study, we investigated whether the SC as a natural arginase inhibitor influences hepatic lipid abnormalities and whole-body adiposity in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. The lipid accumulation was significantly reduced by SC treatment in oleic acid-induced hepatic steatosis in vitro. Additionally, SC supplementation substantially lowered HFD-induced increases in arginase activity and weights of liver and visceral fat tissue, while increasing hepatic NO. Furthermore, elevated mRNA expressions of sterol regulatory element-binding transcription factor 1 (SREBP-1c), fatty-acid synthase (FAS), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ)1, and PPAR-γ2 in HFD-fed mice were significantly attenuated by SC supplementation. Taken together, SC, as a novel natural arginase inhibitor, showed anti-obesity properties by modulating hepatic arginase and NO production and metabolic pathways related to hepatic triglyceride (TG) metabolism.
Keyphrases
- insulin resistance
- high fat diet
- high fat diet induced
- adipose tissue
- nitric oxide synthase
- metabolic syndrome
- nitric oxide
- skeletal muscle
- fatty acid
- transcription factor
- type diabetes
- high glucose
- diabetic rats
- signaling pathway
- weight gain
- dna binding
- drug induced
- oxidative stress
- mass spectrometry
- replacement therapy
- binding protein