• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The anti-diabetic activity of pear through inhibition of ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ has been demonstrated. However, little has been reported about the effect of pear on insulin signaling pathway in obesity. The aims of this study are to establish pear pomace 50% ethanol extract (PPE)-induced improvement of insulin sensitivity and characterize its action mechanism in 3T3-L1 cells and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6 mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: Lipid accumulation, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) secretion and glucose uptake were measure in 3T3-L1 cells. Mice were fed HFD (60% kcal from fat) and orally ingested PPE once daily for 8 weeks and body weight, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and serum lipids were measured. The expression of proteins involved in insulin signaling pathway was evaluated by western blot assay in 3T3-L1 cells and adipose tissue of mice. RESULTS: In 3T3-L1 cells, without affecting cell viability and lipid accumulation, PPE inhibited MCP-1 secretion, improved glucose uptake, and increased protein expression of phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1 [p-IRS-1, ($Tyr^{632})$)], p-Akt, and glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4). Additionally, in HFD-fed mice, PPE reduced body weight, HOMA-IR, and serum lipids including triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol. Furthermore, in adipose tissue, PPE up-regulated GLUT4 expression and expression ratio of p-IRS-1 ($Tyr^{632})/IRS$, whereas, down-regulated p-IRS-1 ($Ser^{307})/IRS$. CONCLUSIONS: Our results collectively show that PPE improves glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 cells and insulin sensitivity in mice fed a HFD through stimulation of the insulin signaling pathway. Furthermore, PPE-induced improvement of insulin sensitivity was not accompanied with lipid accumulation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.161-169
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• 2019

Fumigaclavine C (FC), an active indole alkaloid, is obtained from endophytic Aspergillus terreus (strain No. FC118) by the root of Rhizophora stylosa (Rhizophoraceae). This study is designed to evaluate whether FC has anti-adipogenic effects in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and whether it ameliorates lipid accumulation in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. FC notably increased the levels of glycerol in the culture supernatants and markedly reduced lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. FC differentially inhibited the expressions of adipogenesis-related genes, including the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor proteins, CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins, and sterol regulatory element-binding proteins. FC markedly reduced the expressions of lipid synthesis-related genes, such as the fatty acid binding protein, lipoprotein lipase, and fatty acid synthase. Furthermore, FC significantly increased the expressions of lipolysis-related genes, such as the hormone-sensitive lipase, Aquaporin-7, and adipose triglyceride lipase. In HFD-induced obese mice, intraperitoneal injections of FC decreased both the body weight and visceral adipose tissue weight. FC administration significantly reduced lipid accumulation. Moreover, FC could dose-dependently and differentially regulate the expressions of lipid metabolism-related transcription factors. All these data indicated that FC exhibited anti-obesity effects through modulating adipogenesis and lipolysis.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.630-638
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• 2007

This study was performed to examine the combined effects of L-carnitine and isoflavone supplementation on weight reduction and body fat distribution in overweight women. Overweight/obese women (body mass index > $23kg/m^2$) who were not diagnosed any type of diseases were included in this study and sixty subjects ($41.1{\pm}1.5$ years, $25.9{\pm}0.3kg/m^2)$ were randomly assigned to a placebo (n=30) or a supplement group (n=30, L-carnitine 300 mg+isoflavone 40 mg/day). We measured anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat distribution by computerizd tomography and blood components before and after the 12 week intervention period. After the 12 weeks of supplementation, subjects in L-carnitine and isoflavone supplement group showed a significant reduction of body weight (p < 0.001), body fat % (p < 0.05), and waist to hip ratio (p < 0.01) whereas placebo group did not show any changes. In a CT-scanned results, total fat area at L4 level was significantly reduced by 8.1% (p < 0.01) with the reduction of visceral fat area (-11.1%, p < 0.001) and subcutaneous fat area (-7.0%, p < 0.05) in the supplement group. The supplementation of L-carnitine and isoflavone showed the significant improvement of HDL-C (p < 0.01) and apoB (p < 0.05) concentrations, however, change values in those markers were not significant compared with those of the placebo group. In addition, a significant increase of adiponectin level (p<0.001) was observed in the supplement group after the intervention. The result of present study demonstrated that supplementation of 300 mg L-carnitine and 40 mg isoflavone per day fur 12 weeks can give beneficial effects on weight reduction and visceral fat accumulation. These potential antiobesity supplement can produce more favorable effects when combined with lifestyle modification.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.276-280
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• 2013

Obesity, the leading metabolic disease, is a prevalent health problem in industrialized countries and is closely associated with coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and even cancer. In this study, we investigated the effects of dip-sauce for meat containing Garcinia cambogia extract (GC) on the lipid accumulation and body weight reduction in rats fed high-fat diet for three months. Eighteen Sprague Dawley male rats of five-week-old were randomly assigned to one of three groups; normal chew diet (NCD) group, high-fat diet plus GC-noncontaining dip-sauce (HFD) group, and HFD plus GC-containing dip-sauce (HFD+GC) group. Co-administration of GC-containing dip-sauce (5 g/kg body weight/day) with HFD significantly attenuated cumulative body weight gain, compared with NCD or HFD groups. Both epididymal and perirenal fat pad weights in the HFD plus GC group were significantly lower than those of HFD or NCD groups. Administration of GC-containing dip-sauce also resulted in significant reduction in the serum levels of total cholesterol, total lipid, and triglyceride, compared with NCD or HFD groups. Thus, GC-containing dip-sauce confers beneficial effects to pathological states associated with metabolic disorder via its anti-obesity and lipid lowering properties.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2013

In this study, the effect of Curcuma longa L. on obesity and insulin resistance was investigated in animals fed a moderate high fat diet. The animals used in this study were normal weight Spargue-Dawley (SD) rats and type 2 diabetic obese db/db mice. Accumulation of abdominal adipose tissue and weight gain were inhibited in the animals fed the C. longa extract. C. longa decreased fasting insulin and HOMA-IR in the SD rats, and effectively decreased blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c in db/db mice. C. longa decreased serum free fatty acid (FFA) level in the SD rats. FFA in db/db mice fed C. longa tended to decrease. C. longa significantly decreased serum triglyceride level. Our results collectively represent that C. longa prevented fat accumulation and insulin resistance in both normal weight SD rats and type 2 diabetic obese db/db mice fed a moderate high fat diet.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2014

Objectives : We investigated the effects of gambigyeongsinhwan(GGH)(1) on body weight and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) examined whether blood total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, free fatty acid and triglyceride levels and hepatic lipid accumulation are inhibited by it in high fat diet-fed obese male mice. Methods : 8 weeks old, high fat diet-fed obese male mice were divided into 5 groups: C57BL/6N normal, control, GGH(1)-1, GGH(1)-2 and GGH(1)-3. After mice were treated with GGH(1) for 8 weeks, we measured body weight gain, food intake, feeding efficiency ratio, fat weight, plasma ALT, leptin and lipid levels. We also did histological analysis for liver and fat on the mice. Results : Compared with controls, GGH(1)-treated mice had lower body weight gain and adipose tissue weight, the magnitudes of which were prominent in GGH(1)-3. Compared with controls, GGH(1)-treated mice had lower feeding efficiency ratio and blood leptin level, the magnitudes of which was prominent in GGH(1)-3. Compared with controls, GGH(1)-treated mice had lower blood plasma total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, free fatty acid and triglyceride levels. Compared with controls, GGH(1)-3 treated mice had lower blood plasma ALT concentration. Consistent with their effects on body weight gain, the size of adipocytes were significantly decreased by GGH(1), whereas the adipocyte number per unit area was significantly increased, suggesting that GGH(1) decreased the number of large adipocytes. Hepatic lipid accumulation was decreased by GGH(1). Conclusions : In conclusion, these results suggest that GGH(1) exhibits anti-obesity effects through the modulation of feeding efficiency ratio and plasma obesity parameters. Moreover, it seems that GGH(1) also contributes to improve NAFLD through the regulation of plasma ALT and hepatic triglyceride accumulation.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.366-370
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• 2019

Overweight and obesity induce serious health problems that exert negative effects on dog's welfare. Body condition score (BCS) is a common method to evaluate the body fat mass in animals. By palpating and observing fats under the skin it is possible to predict animal's body fat accumulation condition. BCS is also a useful tool to estimate body fat composition in dogs. However, BCS can be subjective when it was performed by non-professionals like pet's owners. To develop a method to avoid the misevaluation of BCS twenty-four Beagles were enrolled and performed BCS evaluation. In addition, the length of chest and abdominal girths were measured. In correlation analysis, the sizes of chest and abdominal girth were significantly correlated with BCS. Especially, the difference and ratio of the chest and abdominal length were highly correlated with the BCS. With that, we suggested that this simple measurement of chest and abdominal girths by a measuring tape would be an effective method to estimate BCS scores in dogs that helps non-professionals to manage their own dog's nutritional condition by monitoring body fat accumulation condition.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.317-325
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• 2017

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most prevalent liver disease in parallel with worldwide epidemic of obesity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) contributes to the development and progression of NAFLD. Peroxisomes play an important role in fatty acid oxidation and ROS homeostasis, and catalase is an antioxidant exclusively expressed in peroxisome. The present study examined the role of endogenous catalase in early stage of NAFLD. 8-week-old male catalase knock-out (CKO) and age-matched C57BL/6J wild type (WT) mice were fed either a normal diet (ND: 18% of total calories from fat) or a high fat diet (HFD: 60% of total calories from fat) for 2 weeks. CKO mice gained body weight faster than WT mice at early period of HFD feeding. Plasma triglyceride and ALT, fasting plasma insulin, as well as liver lipid accumulation, inflammation (F4/80 staining), and oxidative stress (8-oxo-dG staining and nitrotyrosine level) were significantly increased in CKO but not in WT mice at 2 weeks of HFD feeding. While phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473) and $PGC1{\alpha}$ mRNA expression were decreased in both CKO and WT mice at HFD feeding, $GSK3{\beta}$ phosphorylation and Cox4-il mRNA expression in the liver were decreased only in CKO-HF mice. Taken together, the present data demonstrated that endogenous catalase exerted beneficial effects in protecting liver injury including lipid accumulation and inflammation through maintaining liver redox balance from the early stage of HFD-induced metabolic stress.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.164-173
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• 1993

This study was aimed to investigate whether abdominal obesity is associated with non-insulin dependednt diabetes. The distribution of body fat patterns was observed in 181 female patients with diabetes, aged 33 to 83 years, living in the Taegu area, Korea. The following anthropometric measuremetns were made on all participants from October 1 to November 25, 1991 : weight, height ; waist and hip circumferences in standing position. The waist hip circumference ratio was used as an index of abdominal obesity. The results were as follows; 1) The mean fasting blood glucose of diabetic subjects was 145$\pm$50.3mg/dl and the mean duration of diabetes was 4.7$\pm$7.5 years. 2) Obese subjects above the ideal body weight body weight of 120% in the investigation are presently 52%, but 63% of subjects were reported to be obese in the past. The mean BMI of the subjects is 24.57$\pm$3.15 and the past mean BMI was 27.13$\pm$3.26. One year after reaching their highest body weight, 47% of the subjects developed diabetes. Two years after reaching their peak body weight, 74% of diabetic subjects developed diabetes. 3) Using the waist-hip circumference ratio, subjects beloing to the upper body obesity(WHR>0.84) were 65.5%. 4) The average daily energy intake did not differ between the obese and non-obese diabetic subjects, whether they were assessed with BMI or with RBW. 5) The average daily energy intake was higher in the upper body obesity subjects than in the lower body obesity subjects. 6) Diabetics withing the regular exercise group had lower fasting blood glucose levels than the non-regular exercise group. Exercise did not effect the RBW, BMI, and WHR. 7) The waist-to-hip circumference ratio correlated significantly in positive with waist-circumference, but did not correlated with hip-circumference. Therefore, WHR may depended on the increased accumulation of abdominal fat in female diabetics. In conclusion, these findings suggest that caloric intake is more associated with abdominal fat accumulation in diabetic women. Blood glucose concentration is independently effected by exercise, and exercise does not affect the WHR. Therefore, control of caloric intake and development of specific exercises to change the WHR seems important for controling diabetes in female subjects.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.350-361
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• 2020

Background: Black ginseng (BG) is a type of Korean ginseng prepared by steaming and drying raw ginseng to improve the saponin content. This study examined the effects of BG on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in HepG2 cells and diet-induced obese mice. Methods: HepG2 cells were treated with free fatty acids to induce lipid accumulation before supplementation with BG. NAFLD-induced mice were fed different doses (0.5%, 1%, and 2%) of BG for 8 weeks. Results: BG significantly reduced lipid accumulation and expression of lipogenic genes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha, sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, and fatty acid synthase in HepG2 cells, and the livers of mice fed a 45% high-fat diet with 10% fructose in the drinking water (HFHF diet). BG supplementation caused a significant reduction in levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, while antioxidant enzymes activities were significantly increased in 45% high-fat diet with 10% fructose in the drinking water diet-fed mice. Expression of proliferator-activated receptor alpha and carnitine palmitoyltransferase I were upregulated at the transcription and translation levels in both HepG2 cells and diet-induced obese mice. Furthermore, BG-induced phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase and acetyl CoA carboxylase in both models, suggesting its role in AMP-activated protein kinase activation and the acetyl CoA carboxylase signaling pathway. Conclusion: Our results indicate that BG may be a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention of NAFLD.