• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.607-613
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of either chrysin or exercise on the inflammasome and thermogenic markers in the livers of high-fat fed mice. C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned to four groups: normal diet control (NC; n=5), high-fat diet control (HC; n=5), high-fat diet with chrysin (Hch; n=5), and high-fat diet with moderate exercise (HME; n=5). The mice were fed a high-fat diet (60% of calories from fat) or normal diet (18% of calories from fat). Chrysin was supplemented orally as 50mg/kg/day dissolved in a 0.1ml solution of dimethyl sulfoxide. The exercised mice ran on a treadmill at 12-20 m/min for 30-60 min/day, 5 times/week, for 16 weeks. After the intervention, the epididymal fat and liver weights were significantly decreased in the HME group compared with HC and Hch groups. The adipocyte size was effectively decreased in the Hch and HME groups compared with the HC group. The inflammasome markers NLRP3, $IL-1{\beta}$, and caspase1 were significantly decreased in the Hch and HME groups compared with the HC group. The thermogenic markers $PGC-1{\alpha}$ and BMP7 were significantly lower in the HC than in the NC group. However, the HME group showed an increase in the thermogenic markers. In conclusion, chrysin and moderate exercise have positive effects on obese metabolic complications induced by high-fat diets by reducing inflammasome genes. However, chrysin supplementation had no effect on thermogenic gene expression. Moderate exercise would therefore seem to be more effective in controlling obesity-induced metabolic deregulation.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.14-32
• /
• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma co-activator-1α (PGC-1α) has a central role in regulating muscle differentiation and mitochondrial metabolism. PGC-1α stimulates muscle growth and muscle fiber remodeling, concomitantly regulating lactate and lipid metabolism and promoting oxidative metabolism. Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thumb.) has been widely employed as a traditional herbal medicine and possesses antioxidant, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, hypolipemic, hypoglycemic, and anticancer properties. We investigated whether G. pentaphyllum extract (GPE) and its active compound, gypenoside L (GL), affect muscle differentiation and mitochondrial metabolism via activation of the PGC-1α pathway in murine C2C12 myoblast cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: C2C12 cells were treated with GPE and GL, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to analyze the mRNA and protein expression levels. Myh1 was determined using immunocytochemistry. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species generation was measured using the 2'7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate assay. RESULTS: GPE and GL promoted the differentiation of myoblasts into myotubes and elevated mRNA and protein expression levels of Myh1 (type IIx). GPE and GL also significantly increased the mRNA expression levels of the PGC-1α gene (Ppargc1a), lactate metabolism-regulatory genes (Esrra and Mct1), adipocyte-browning gene fibronectin type III domain-containing 5 gene (Fndc5), glycogen synthase gene (Gys), and lipid metabolism gene carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1b gene (Cpt1b). Moreover, GPE and GL induced the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase, p38, sirtuin1, and deacetylated PGC-1α. We also observed that treatment with GPE and GL significantly stimulated the expression of genes associated with the anti-oxidative stress response, such as Ucp2, Ucp3, Nrf2, and Sod2. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that GPE and GL enhance exercise performance by promoting myotube differentiation and mitochondrial metabolism through the upregulation of PGC-1α in C2C12 skeletal muscle.