• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.41-55
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• 2007

Purpose: This study is to examine anti-obesity effect and cytotoxicity of the long-term oral administration of Sinomenium acutum (Bang-gi, SA) Methods: Using diet-induced obesity C57BL/6 mouse model, anti-obesity effect and DNA chip expression and cytotoxicity of the long-term oral administration of this herbal extract were investigated. Results: The herbal extract treated groups were arrested in weight increment only when they were lodged together. Such effects were abolished when they kept individually. SA fed mice behaved very rudely and violently. On the basis of histological studies of liver tissues and also in vitro cytotoxicity tests of the liver and kidney cell lines, no significant toxicity was found by 14 weeks of SA treatments. However, we found significant changes in gene expression profile in SA treated group by micro-array analysis. In case of SA group, up-regulated genes were 1,213 and down-regulated ones were 2,558. Some of lipid metabolism related genes also significantly changed in both treatment groups. Conclusion: SA had effects of increasing the basal metabolic rate by stimulating the sympathetic nervous systems.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2013

Animals show a sexual dimorphism in metabolic responses. We investigated to verify whether the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\alpha}$ ($PPAR{\alpha}$) agonist fenofibrate regulates obesity and skeletal muscle lipid metabolism with sexual dimorphism and to determine the changes in skeletal muscle expression of $PPAR{\alpha}$ target genes. After both sexes of C57BL/6J mice received a high fat diet with or without fenofibrate for 7 weeks, we examined the effects of fenofibrate on not only body weight, adipose tissue mass, and skeletal muscle lipid accumulation, but also the mRNA expression of $PPAR{\alpha}$-related genes in skeletal muscle. Male mice given a fenofibrate-supplemented high fat diet showed decreased body weight gain and adipose tissue mass compared with mice fed a high fat diet alone, whereas fenofibrate did not reduce them in high fat diet-fed female mice. Lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle was inhibited by fenofibrate in male mice, but not in female mice. Gene expression analysis revealed that fenofibrate increased the mRNA levels of $PPAR{\alpha}$ target enzymes only in male mice. Therefore, our results suggest that sex-dependence differences in obesity and intramuscular lipid levels under fenofibrate treatment could be due in part to the differences in skeletal muscle $PPAR{\alpha}$ activation between male and female mice.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.65-80
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• 2007

Purpose: This study is to examine anti-obesity effect and cytotoxicity of the long-term oral administration of Ephedra Sinica(Ma-hwang, ES) Methods: Using diet-induced obesity C57BL/6 mouse model, anti-obesity effect and DNA chip expression and cytotoxicity of the long-term oral administration of this herbal extract were investigated. Results: The herbal extract treated groups were arrested in weight increment only when they were lodged together. Such effects were abolished when they kept individually. ES fed mice behaved very rudely and violently. On the basis of histological studies of liver tissues and also in vitro cytotoxicity tests of the liver and kidney cell lines, no significant toxicity was found by 14 weeks of ES treatments. However, we found significant changes in gene expression profile in ES treated group by micro-array analysis. In case of ES group, up-regulated genes were 113 and down-regulated were 120. Some of lipid metabolism related genes also significantly changed in treatment groups. Conclusion: ES had effects of increasing the basal metabolic rate by stimulating the sympathetic nervous systems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2022.10a
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• pp.253-253
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• 2022

Codonopsis lanceolata (C. lanceolata) has been widely used in East Asia as a traditional medicine to treat various diseases such as bronchitis, convulsions, cough, obesity, and hepatitis. C. lanceolata belonging to Campanulaceae contains bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, saponins, and steroids. However, despite the pharmacological significance of C. lanceolata, the genetic information of this plant is limited and there are few studies of its transcriptome. In this study, we constructed a unigene set of C. lanceolata using Pac-Bio sequencing. Furthermore, the reads generated from Pac-bio and Illumina sequencing were mixed and assembled using rnaSPAdes. All genes involved in the triterpenoid pathway, a major bioactive compounds of C. lanceolata, were searched from the two unigene sets and the expression profiles of these genes were analyzed. The results showed that lupeol, beta-amyrin, and dammarenediol synthesis genes were activated in the leaves and roots of C. lanceolata. In particular, the expression of genes related to lupeol synthesis was relatively high, suggesting that the main triterpenoid of C. lanceolata is lupeol. Transcriptome studies related to lupeol synthesis in C. lanceolata have been rarely reported. Lupeol has been reported to have pharmacological effects such as anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-bacterial. This study suggests the importance of C. lanceolata as a lupeol producing plant.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.38-40
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• 2016

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder often caused by a deletion of the chromosome 15q11-q13 region inherited from the father or by maternal disomy 15. Growth hormone deficiency with short stature, hypogonadism, cognitive and behavioral problems, analgesia, decreased gastric motility and decreased ability to vomit with hyperphagia are common in PWS leading to severe obesity in early childhood, if not controlled. The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of recombinant human GH (rhGH, henceforth designated GH) on the gene expression related to cognitive function in the brain of PWS mouse model (Snord116del). GH restored the mRNA expression level of several genes in the cerebellum. These data suggest the effect of GH on the expression of cognitive function related genes in cerebellum may provide a mechanism for the GH-induced brain function in PWS patients.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.253-259
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• 2016

Objectives: Central obesity plays a major role in the development of many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Chronic stress may be involved in the pathophysiology of central obesity. Although several large-scale genome-wide association studies have reported susceptibility genes for central adiposity, the effects of interactions between genes and psychosocial stress on central adiposity have rarely been examined. A recent study focusing on Caucasians discovered the novel gene early B-cell factor 1 (EBF1), which was associated with central obesity-related traits via interactions with stress levels. We aimed to evaluate EBF1 gene-by-stress interaction effects on central adiposity traits, including visceral adipose tissue (VAT), in Korean adults. Methods: A total of 1467 Korean adults were included in this study. We selected 22 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the EBF1 gene and analyzed their interactions with stress on central adiposity using additive, dominant, and recessive genetic modeling. Results: The four SNPs that had strong linkage disequilibrium relationships (rs10061900, rs10070743, rs4704967, and rs10056564) demonstrated significant interactions with the waist-hip ratio in the dominant model ($p_{int}$<0.007). In addition, two other SNPs (rs6556377 and rs13180086) were associated with VAT by interactions with stress levels, especially in the recessive genetic model ($p_{int}$<0.007). As stress levels increased, the mean values of central adiposity traits according to SNP genotypes exhibited gradual but significant changes (p<0.05). Conclusions: These results suggest that the common genetic variants for EBF1 are associated with central adiposity through interactions with stress levels, emphasizing the importance of managing stress in the prevention of central obesity.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.78-87
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• 2020

Objectives: To expand and provide information on the efficacy of herbal medicines, anti-obesity effects were evaluated. In many studies, plant-derived components with anti-obesity efficacies have been investigated for their potential inhibitory effects on 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-obesity effects of 65 herbal medicine in 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells. Methods: Preferentially, 3T3-L1 cells were treated with 65 herbal medicines (500 ㎍/mL) during differentiation for 8 days. Next, 3T3-L1 cells were treated with selected herbal medicines at concentrations ranging from 50 to 200 ㎍/mL during differentiation for 8 days. The accumulation of lipid droplets was determined by Oil Red O staining. The expressions of genes related to adipogenesis were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses. Results: Among the 65 kinds of herbal medicines, 13 herbal medicines that been shown to be effective against the accumulation of lipid droplets were selected. Finally, selected Banhasasim-tang and Samhwangsasim-tang showed inhibitory activity on adipocyte differentiation at 3T3-L1 preadipocytes without affecting cell toxicity. In addition, Banhasasim-tang and Samhwangsasim-tang significantly reduced the expression levels of several adipocyte marker genes including peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α. Conclusions : These results suggest that the ability of Banhasasim-tang and Samhwangsasimtang has inhibited overall adipogenesis and lipid accumulation in the 3T3-L1 cells. Banhasasim-tang and Samhwangsasim-tang may be a promising medicine for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2016

The current study investigated the anti-obesity effect of Cissus quadrangularsis extracts (CQR-300) and its molecular action mechanism on obese mice induced high-fat diet (HFD). To induce the obesity, mice were fed a HFD for 6 weeks and then fed HFD only or HFD with CQR-300 at 50 and 200 mg/kg. Then, body weight gain and white adipose tissue weights were measured. We investigated the reduction in body fat and the regulation of fatty acid synthesis was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and real-time PCR with Western blot, respectively. In vitro study, CQR-300 inhibited pancreatic lipase activity. The CQR-300 treatment was significantly decreased the body weight gain and adipocytes size as well as white adipose tissues weights in HFD-induced obese mice. Furthermore, CQR-300 reduced the body fat and fat mass with regulating of adipose tissue hormones as leptin. Treatment with 50 mg/kg CQR-300 showed effectively lower expression levels of adipogenesis/lipogenesis related genes and proteins such as CCAAT/enhancer binding protein ${\alpha}$ ($C/EBP{\alpha}$), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\gamma}$ ($PPAR{\gamma}$), Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), and fatty acid synthase (FAS) in white adipose tissue (WAT) as compared with the HFD fed only mice. These results suggest that the CQR-300 has an anti-obesity effect via inhibition of lipase activity, decrease the body fat mass by regulating the adipogenesis and lipogenesis related genes and proteins in epididymal adipose tissue with evaluate body fat reduce in the HFD-induced obese mice.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.99-103
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• 2010

The Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat, a model of spontaneous type 2 diabetes (T2D), develops hyperglycemic obesity with hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance after the age of 25 weeks, similar to patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (DM). In the present study, we determined whether there are differences in the pattern of gene expression related to glucose and lipid metabolism between OLETF rats and their control counterparts, Long-Evans Tokushima (LETO) rats. The experiment was done using 35-week-old OLETF and LETO rats. At week 35 male OLETF rats showed overt T2D and increases in blood glucose, plasma insulin, plasma triglycerides (TG) and plasma total cholesterol (TC). Livers of diabetic OLETF and LETO rats also showed differences in expression of mRNA for glucose and lipid metabolism related genes. Among glucose metabolism related genes, GAPDH mRNA was significantly higher and FBPase and G6Pase mRNA were significantly lower in OLETF rats. For lipid metabolism related genes, HMGCR, SCD1 and HL mRNA were substantially higher in OLETF rats. These results indicate that gluconeogenesis in OLETF rats is lower and glycolysis is higher, which means that glucose metabolism might be compensated for by a lowering of the blood glucose level. However, lipid synthesis is increased in OLETF rats so diabetes may be aggravated. These differences between OLETF and LETO rats suggest mechanisms that could be targeted during the development of therapeutic agents for diabetes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.142-147
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• 2020

Lipid accumulation in white adipose tissue is the key contributor to the obesity and orchestrates numerous metabolic health problems such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Nonetheless, the prevention and treatment of obesity are still inadequate. Recently, scientists found that brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans has functions that are diametrically opposite to those of white adipose tissue and that BAT holds promise for a new strategy to counteract obesity. In this study, we evaluated the potential of sinapic acid (SA) to promote the thermogenic program and lipolysis in BAT. SA treatment of brown adipocytes induced the expression of brown-adipocyte activation-related genes such as Ucp1, Pgc-1α, and Prdm16. Furthermore, structural analysis and western blot revealed that SA upregulates protein kinase A (PKA) phosphorylation with competitive inhibition by a pan-PKA inhibitor, H89. SA binds to the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) site on the PKA catalytic subunit where H89 binds specifically. PKA-cat-α1 gene-silencing experiments confirmed that SA activates the thermogenic program via a mechanism involving PKA and cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) signaling. Moreover, SA treatment promoted lipolysis via a PKA/p38-mediated pathway. Our findings may allow us to open a new avenue of strategies against obesity and need further investigation.