• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.239-246
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• 2010

It is suggested that ovariectomy induces body weight gain primarily in the form of adipose tissue in rodents. Since liver peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\alpha}$ (PPAR${\alpha}$) and uncoupling 2 (UCP2) are involved in the regulation of energy expenditure, it was investigated whether swim training regulates ovariectomy-induced adiposity and steatosis through liver PPAR${\alpha}$ and UCP2 activation in female ovariectomized mice, an animal model of postmenopausal women. Swim-trained mice had significantly decreased adipose tissue weights compared with sedentary control mice. Histological analysis showed that hepatic lipid accumulation was inhibited by swim training. Concomitantly, swim training significantly increased mRNA levels of PPAR${\alpha}$ and its target genes responsible for peroxisomal fatty acid ${\beta}$-oxidation, such as acyl-CoA oxidase, enoyl-CoA hydratase/3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and thiolase in the liver. Moreover, swim training induced the mRNA expression of UCP2. These results suggest that swim training can effectively prevent adiposity and steatosis caused by ovariectomy, in part through activation of liver PPAR${\alpha}$ and UCP2 in female obese mice.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.255-262
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• 2020

Obesity is a critical health issue in Korea, where half of all adults are overweight and a third obese. Aronia melanocarpa -rich in flavonoids and phenolics- with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, could have anti-obesity activity and reduce body fat mass by upregulating lipolysis and β-oxidation in obese mice. Male C57BL/6J mice (n=12) were assigned into four groups: normal chow (18% kcal from fat); high-fat diet control (HFD, 45% kcal from fat); HFD+A. melanocarpa (200 mg/kg diet); HFD+Xenical (500 mg/kg diet, positive control). Antioxidant capacity of A. melanocarpa was established in vitro and in vivo. Weight loss was induced as decreased adiposity and lowered respiratory quotient at rest suggested oxidation of stored fat. Adiposity reduction, accompanied with elevated fat utilization, was owing to enhanced activity of hormone-sensitive lipase. Thus, A. melanocarpa lowered adiposity by enhancing lipolysis and utilization of fatty acids in visceral fat.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.256-265
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• 2020

Objectives: We compared the associations of 3 computed tomography (CT)-based abdominal adiposity indexes with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among middle-aged Korean men and women. Methods: The participants were 1366 men and 2480 women community-dwellers aged 30-64 years. Three abdominal adiposity indexes-visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio (VSR)-were calculated from abdominal CT scans. NAFLD was determined by calculating the Liver Fat Score from comorbidities and blood tests. An NAFLD prediction model that included waist circumference (WC) as a measure of abdominal adiposity was designated as the base model, to which VFA, SFA, and VSR were added in turn. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were calculated to quantify the additional predictive value of VFA, SFA, and VSR relative to WC. Results: VFA and VSR were positively associated with NAFLD in both genders. SFA was not significantly associated with NAFLD in men, but it was negatively associated in women. When VFA, SFA, and VSR were added to the WC-based NAFLD prediction model, the AUC improved by 0.013 (p<0.001), 0.001 (p=0.434), and 0.009 (p=0.007) in men and by 0.044 (p<0.001), 0.017 (p<0.001), and 0.046 (p<0.001) in women, respectively. The IDI and NRI were increased the most by VFA in men and VSR in women. Conclusions: Using CT-based abdominal adiposity indexes in addition to WC may improve the detection of NAFLD. The best predictive indicators were VFA in men and VSR in women.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.144-148
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• 2020

Corn silk (Okmi-su) was anciently adopted as a material for tea or beverage. Corn silk extracts (CSE) contain bioactive phytochemicals such as phenolic acid, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, tannins, and glycosides. Under the impact of these functional components, CSE has benefits for antioxidation, diuresis, anti-diabetes, and dyslipidemia recovery. Nonetheless, its role in whole-body adiposity was not investigated; therefore, the effects of CSE on obesity were evaluated in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. Mice were assigned to either group (n=12); 1) normal diet (18% kcal from fat), 2) high-fat diet (45% kcal from fat, the control), 3) high-fat diet with CSE (800 mg/kg diet), and 4) high-fat diet with orlistat (500 mg/kg diet, a comparable control for weight loss). Our results showed that body weight, adiposity, and energy expenditure in obese mice were not altered by CSE. Lean body mass tended to decrease by CSE, which can be explained by stimulation of diuresis (p=0.06). In conclusion, our results suggest that dietary consumption of CSE does not influence the adiposity and underlying substrate utilization in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.753-757
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• 2015

Recently, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) was shown to exert insulin-sensitizing and adiposity-reducing effects in high-fat (HF) diet-fed mice. In the present study, we observed that the effects were correlated with the extent of dysbiosis induced by HF diet feeding before LGG administration. LGG-treated mice were protected from HF diet-induced adiposity and/or insulin resistance when LGG was treated after, not along with, HF diet feeding. Results indicate that, under HF dietary condition, supplemented LGG reverses insulin resistance, but does not block its onset.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.10
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• pp.679-684
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• 2009

Fenofibrate has been proven to reduce adiposity. Since gestation produces an increase in white adipose tissue (WAT) mass, we comparatively studied this drug-effect in virgin and pregnant rats. Fenofibrate reduced lumbar WAT weight in both pregnant and virgin rats. Fenofibrate treatment did not modify plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentration in virgin rats, it greatly increased it in pregnant animals. Remarkable differences between the two groups were obtained for two proteins related to fatty acid oxidation and esterification and storing. Respectively, the mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT-I) were increased by the fenofibrate only in the virgin rats and a similar finding was observed for the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). These findings indicate that fenofibrate reduces adiposity in pregnant and virgin rats through different mechanisms: a) in virgin rats, by promoting fatty acid oxidation; and b) in pregnant rats, by enhancing fatty acid output.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.355-361
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• 2012

We investigated to verify whether the $PPAR{\alpha}$ agonist fenofibrate regulates adipose tissue metabolism and to determine the molecular mechanism involved in this regulation. After male mice (C57BL/6J) received a high fat diet with or without fenofibrate for 6 weeks, the effects of fenofibrate on not only adipose tissue weight, visceral adipocyte size, serum lipid and glucose levels, but also the expression of uncoupling proteins (UCPs). Mice given a fenofibrate-supplemented high fat diet showed reduced both visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue weights versus high fat diet-fed animals. The size of visceral adipocytes was significantly decreased by fenofibrate treatment. The administration of fenofibrate resulted in decreased serum levels of triglycerides, free fatty acids, and glucose. Moreover, fenofibrate up-regulated mRNA levels of visceral adipose tissue UCP2 and skeletal muscle UCP3. Therefore, our results suggest that the increases in the expression of UCPs by fenofibrate seem to suppress diet-induced visceral adiposity as well as severe hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia in male mice.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.903-911
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• 2002

The effects of dietary levan, high-molecular-weight $\beta$-2,6-linked fructose polymer, on adiposity, serum leptin and UCP expression in rats fed high fat diet were studied. The adipose tissue hormone, leptin has been proposed to be involved in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. Uncoupling protein (UCP), a mitochondrial protein that uncouples the respiratory chain from oxidative phosphorylation, generates heat instead of ATP, thereby increase energy expenditure. To determine whether the dietary levan may have the anti-obesity effect, 4 wk old Sprague Dawley male rats fed high fat diet for 6 wks to induce obesity, and subsequently fed one of three diets for further 6 wks: 1) high fat (40% of calories) diet without levan 2) with 3% (w/w) levan 3) with 5% levan. For the comparison, control group fed AIN-76A diet. Visceral and peritoneal fat masses were lower in high fat diet with levan groups compared to high fat diet group. The effect of levan was dose-dependent. Adipocyte size was significantly reduced in the levan diet groups compared to the no levan diet group. Serum cholesterol level was not affected by levan containing diet, while the serum HDL cholesterol level was higher in leven diet groups. In addition, serum triglyceride level was markedly reduced by levan containing diet, thus lower than that of control group. Serum leptin was reduced by levan containing diet and lower in 5% levan group compared to 3% levan group (p < 0.001), as a result, serum leptin and insulin levels of 5% levan group were reduced to level of control group. Futhermore, the serum leptin level reflected the adiposity. The expression of UCP 1, and UCP 2 in brown adipose tissue was up-regulated by levan containing diet. In conclusions, levan containing diet reduced adiposity and serum triglyceride but increased UCP expression in the obese rats fed high fat diet. (Korean J Nutrition 35(9) : 903~911, 2002)

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.578-584
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• 2017

Purpose: Excess intake of sodium is a major diet-related risk factor for human diseases including hypertension and cancer as well as obesity and inflammation. However, findings are still controversial, and evidence is lacking in Koreans. Therefore, for better understanding of the role of dietary sodium intake in disease etiology, this study investigated the effects of dietary sodium intake on adiposity, inflammation, and hormones in Koreans. Methods: A total of 80 males and females joined the study. The general characteristics and dietary intake data were investigated by trained interviewers using a questionnaire and 24-h dietary recall, respectively. For the markers of adiposity, body weight, body mass index, percent of body fat, visceral fat area, and waist and hip circumference were measured. For the inflammation and hormone markers, leptin, adiponectin, insulin, tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$, and interleukin-6 were also analyzed. Results: Multivariate linear regression analyses suggested that dietary sodium intake was not associated with adiposity. However, dietary sodium showed a significant association with insulin level: Plasma insulin concentration increased with sodium intake independent of other dietary intake or percent of body fat (${\beta}=0.296$, adjusted $r^2=0.276$, p < 0.01). Other markers for inflammation and hormonal responses were not associated with dietary sodium intake. Conclusion: Findings suggested that dietary sodium intake may be a critical modifying factor in the level of plasma insulin. However, it showed a limited effect on obesity and other inflammation markers and hormone levels. These findings should be confirmed in larger, well-designed investigations.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.7-21
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• 2014

Objectives : To observe the regenerative effects of indirect moxibustion, a traditional Korean medical treatment on skeletal muscles using mouse model of skeletal muscle adiposity. Methods : Twenty seven ICR male mice were randomly assigned into Intact control(n=3), glycerol treatment together without moxibustion(n=12), and glycerol treatment together with moxibustion (n=12) groups. Mice of glycerol treatment groups were injected with 50 ${\mu}l$ DW(distilled water) containing 50 % of glycerol into the two tibialis anterior. After injection, moxibustion was applied at 'Shenshu'($BL_{23}$) and 'Zusanli'($ST_{36}$) acupoints three times per each session, every days for twelve days(total 12 treatments). Phospho-Erk1/2, Myostatin protein levels were analyzed by western blotting and immunofluo-rescence staining techniques for tissues of the tibialis anterior muscle. Smad, phospho-Smad were analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. Results : 1. Histological analysis of sections from injected TA muscles showed that glycerol induced rapidly muscle necrosis, with a maximum at day 3. 6 days and 9 days after injection, muscle was regenerating. 2. According to western blotting and immunofluorescence staining, phospho-Erk1/2 protein signals in glycerol treatment with moxibustion group were stronger compared to Intact and glycerol treatment without moxibustion group. 3. According to western blotting and immunofluorescence staining, myostatin protein signals in glycerol treatment without moxibustion group were stronger compared to Intact and glycerol treatment with moxibustion group. 4. According to immunofluorescence staining, Smad protein signals in glycerol treatment without moxibustion group were stronger compared to Intact and glycerol treatment with moxibustion group. 5. According to immunofluorescence staining, phospho-Smad protein signals in glycerol treatment without moxibustion group were stronger compared to Intact and glycerol treatment with moxibustion group. Conclusions : These results confirm that indirect moxibustion of 'Shenshu'($BL_{23}$) and 'Zusanli'($ST_{36}$) influences muscle regeneration in mouse models of skeletal muscle adiposity. Further discussion, and the establishment of moxibustion mechanism will prompt clinical application of moxibustion.