• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.227-239
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• 2022

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of water-soluble mulberry leaf extract (ME) on hepatic lipid accumulation in high-fat diet-fed rats via the regulation of hepatic microRNA (miR)-221/222 and inflammation. Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (4 weeks old) were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 7 each) and fed with 10 kcal% low-fat diet (LF), 45 kcal% high-fat diet (HF), or HF + 0.8% ME for 14 weeks. Lipid profiles and cytokine levels of the liver and serum were measured using commercial enzymatic colorimetric and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The messenger RNA (mRNA) and miR levels in liver tissue were assayed by real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Supplementation of ME reduces body weight and improves the liver and serum lipid profiles as compared to the HF group. The mRNA levels of hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma, sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c, fatty acid synthase, and fatty acid translocase, which are genes involved in lipid metabolism, were significantly downregulated in the ME group compared to the HF group. In contrast, the mRNA level of hepatic carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (involved in fatty acid oxidation) was upregulated by ME supplementation. Furthermore, administration of ME significantly downregulated the mRNA levels of inflammatory mediators such as hepatic tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and inducible nitric oxide synthase. The serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and nitric oxide were also significantly reduced in ME group compared to the HF group. Expression of hepatic miR-221 and miR-222, which increase in the inflammatory state of the liver, were also significantly inhibited in the ME group compared to the HF group. Conclusion: These results indicate that ME has the potential to improve hepatic lipid accumulation in high-fat diet-fed rats via modulation of inflammatory mediators and hepatic miR-221/222 expressions.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.568-579
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• 2020

BACKGROUD/OBJECTIVES: Hepatic steatosis is the most common liver disorder, particularly in postmenopausal women. This study investigated the protective effects of standardized rice bran extract (RBS) on ovariectomized (OVX)-induced hepatic steatosis in rats. MATERIALS/METHODS: HepG2 cells were incubated with 200 µM oleic acid to induce lipid accumulation with or without RBS and γ-oryzanol. OVX rats were separated into three groups and fed a normal diet (ND) or the ND containing 17β-estradiol (E2; 10 ㎍/kg) and RBS (500 mg/kg) for 16 weeks. RESULTS: RBS supplementation improved serum triglyceride and free fatty acid levels in OVX rats. Histological analysis showed that RBS significantly attenuated hepatic fat accumulation and decreased hepatic lipid, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Additionally, RBS suppressed the estrogen deficiency-induced upregulation of lipogenic genes, such as sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1, fatty acid synthase, glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, and stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1. CONCLUSIONS: RBS and γ-oryzanol effectively reduced lipid accumulation in a HepG2 cell hepatic steatosis model. RBS improves OVX-induced hepatic steatosis by regulating the SREBP1-mediated activation of lipogenic genes, suggesting the benefits of RBS in preventing fatty liver in postmenopausal women.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2013

This study was performed to investigate the effects of ethanolic extract of Ulmus davidiana root (UE) on lipid metabolism in mice fed a high-fat diet (HF) for 7 weeks. Forty male ICR mice were randomly divided into four groups; normal diet group (N), high-fat diet group (HF), HF with 0.5% UE (HF-L) and 1% UE (HF-H) group. Body weight, body weight gain, and liver weight in the HF group was significantly higher than in the N group, while those of the HF-L and HF-H group were unchanged. UE improved HF-induced dyslipidemia by reducing serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, and the atherogenic index. There was no difference in serum HDL-cholesterol among experimental groups. However, the HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio was significantly increased in the HF-L and HF-H group. Histological analysis showed that HF-fed mice developed hepatocellular microvesicular vacuolation as a result of fat accumulation. These changes were attenuated by 1% UE supplementation. In addition, hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol levels in the HF-H group significantly reduced. Taken together, these results demonstrated that lipid levels in the blood and liver were reduced by UE, suggesting that it might be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia and fatty liver.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.127-134
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• 2015

Castration induces the accumulation of body fat and deposition of intramuscular fat in Korean cattle, resulting in improved beef quality. However, little is known about the metabolic adaptations in the liver following castration. To understand changes in lipid metabolism following castration, hepatic expression levels of lipid metabolism genes were compared between Korean bulls and steers. Steers had higher (p<0.001) hepatic lipids contents and higher (p<0.01) mRNA levels of lipogenic acetyl-CoA carboxylase. This differential gene expression may, in part, contribute to increased hepatic lipid content following the castration of bulls. However, we found no differences in the hepatic expression levels of genes related to triglyceride synthesis (mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 and 2) and fatty acid (FA) oxidation (carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A, C-4 to C-12 straight chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase) between bulls and steers. No differences in gene expression for very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion, including apolipoprotein B mRNA and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTTP) protein, were observed in the liver although MTTP mRNA levels were higher in steers compared to bulls. In conclusion, FA synthesis may contribute to increased hepatic lipid deposition in steers following castration. However, hepatic lipid metabolism, including triglyceride synthesis, FA oxidation, and VLDL secretion, was not significantly altered by castration. Our results suggest that hepatic lipid metabolism does not significantly contribute to increased body fat deposition in steers following castration.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.870-882
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Obesity is a major risk factor for metabolic syndrome, a global public health problem. Mentha canadensis (MA), a traditional phytomedicine and dietary herb used for centuries, was the focus of this study to investigate its effects on obesity. MATERIALS/METHODS: Thirty-five male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 2 groups and fed either a normal diet (ND, n = 10) or a high-fat diet (HFD, n = 25) for 4 weeks to induce obesity. After the obesity induction period, the HFD-fed mice were randomly separated into 2 groups: one group continued to be fed HFD (n = 15, HFD group), while the other group was fed HFD with 1.5% (w/w) MA ethanol extract (n = 10, MA group) for 13 weeks. RESULTS: The results showed that body and white adipose tissue (WAT) weights were significantly decreased in the MA-supplemented group compared to the HFD group. Additionally, MA supplementation enhanced energy expenditure, leading to improvements in plasma lipids, cytokines, hepatic steatosis, and fecal lipids. Furthermore, MA supplementation regulated lipid-metabolism-related enzyme activity and gene expression, thereby suppressing lipid accumulation in the WAT and liver. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that MA has the potential to improve diet-induced obesity and its associated complications, including adiposity, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and inflammation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1145-1152
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• 2012

This experiment was conducted with male chicks to investigate the influence of hormones and nutrients on the development of fatty liver syndrome (FLS) as well as the effects of dietary lipotropic factors on hepatic fat accumulation and lipogenic enzyme gene expression. A total of two-hundred sixteen 4-wk-old Hy-Line male chicks were divided into six groups and fed an experimental diet (T1, low-energy diet with low levels of lipotropic factors; T2, high-energy diet with low levels of lipotropic factors; T3 and T5, low-energy diet with high levels of lipotropic factors; T4 and T6, high-energy diet with high levels of lipotropic factors) for six weeks. The chicks in T5 and T6 groups were treated with intramuscular injections of estradiol benzoate for three days prior to biopsy and clinical analysis of FLS. Chicks treated with estrogen had significantly greater liver weights than untreated chicks. The abdominal fat contents were increased in chicks consuming high-energy diets as compared to those consuming low-energy diets. Treatment with estrogen significantly increased the concentrations of serum cholesterol, triacylglycerol and phospholipid (p<0.05). The hepatic triacylglycerol levels were tenfold higher in the estrogen treated chicks than in the untreated chicks. There were no significant differences in malondialdehyde levels between the treatment groups. Estrogen treatment dramatically increased the levels of fatty acid synthetase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and ApoB mRNA. The results indicated that treatment with exogenous estrogen in growing male chicks induced hepatic fat accumulation, which might be partially due to increased lipogenic enzyme gene expression.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2006

Dongchunghacho rice, produced by cultivating Dongchunghacho fungus on rice, could be an effective functional food because it offers added value to rice and thus increases rice consumption. However, the physiological effect of Dongchunghacho rice has not been reported yet although there is increasing consumers demand. Therefore, we investigated the effect of Dongchunghacho rice (unpolished rice cultivated with Cordyceps militaris) on lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemic rats. Forty of 8 wk-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups after a 1 week of adaptation period and fed either a normal diet (66% polished rice diet, NC), high fat (12 g/100 g)-high cholesterol (1 g/100 g) diet with 53% polished rice (HC), or high fat-high cholesterol diets supplemented with 30% of the total rice as either unpolished rice (DR) or Dongchunghacho rice (DR). After 4 weeks, rats fed the Dongchunghacho rice diet with high fat and cholesterol had dramatically lower plasma LDL cholesterol concentrations and atherogenic indexes and higher plasma HDL cholesterol levels compared with the rats consuming polished rice or unpolished rice with high fat and cholesterol diet. Dongchunghacho rice led to less total lipid and total cholesterol accumulation in liver. However, these significant reductions in plasma or hepatic lipid profiles were not closely correlated with fecal total lipid or total cholesterol excretion. The plasma concentration of total cholesterol and triglycerides were not affected by Dongchunghacho rice. This hypolipidemic effect of Dongchunghacho rice seemed to be unrelated to unpolished rice itself, because the plasma and hepatic lipid profiles of DR group were not different from that of the HC group. These results suggest that unpolished rice containing cultivated Cordyceps militaris can improve plasma and hepatic lipid profiles in rats fed with high fat-high cholesterol 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 Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.405-413
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• 2013

Monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3), a chemokine that is in a superfamily of structurally related small chemotactic cytokines involved in leukocyte trafficking, is regarded as a key factor in atherogenesis. In this study, we examined the changes in atherogenic parameters including hepatic lipid accumulation and oxidative balance in MCP- 3-overexpressing transgenic mice (MCP-3 mice) under atherogenic conditions. To induce an extreme atherogenic condition, mice were fed a high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet for 12 weeks. The body weight and food intake were not changed by MCP-3 overexpression in the aorta. On a HFHC diet, the MCP-3 mice had higher plasma levels of total cholesterol and a higher atherogenic index compared with wild-type mice, although there were no differences in the plasma HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Furthermore, an increase in lipid accumulation was observed in the aortas as well as the livers of the HFHC diet-fed MCP-3 mice compared with wild-type mice. The activities of antioxidant enzymes increased in the livers of the HFHC diet-fed MCP-3 mice, whereas supplementation with antioxidants, naringin and hesperidin, reversed the activities of the hepatic antioxidant enzymes in HFHC diet-fed MCP-3 mice, indicating that there might be more oxidative damage to the tissues in the HFHC diet-fed MCP-3 mice leading to progression towards atherosclerosis and hepatic steatosis. Microarray analyses of the aorta revealed atherosclerosis-, PPARs-, lipoprotein receptor, and apolipoprotein-related genes that were affected by the HFHC diet in MCP-3 mice. These findings suggest that aortic MCP-3 overexpression may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and hepatic steatosis under atherogenic conditions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.419-428
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• 2018

Background: Despite the large number of studies on ginseng, pharmacological activities of ginseng seed oil (GSO) have not been established. GSO is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, mostly oleic and linoleic acids. Unsaturated fatty acids are known to exert a therapeutic effect in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, we investigated the protective effect and underlying mechanisms of GSO against NAFLD using in vitro and in vivo models. Methods: In vitro lipid accumulation was induced by free fatty acid mixture in HepG2 cells and by 3 wk of high fat diet (HFD)-feeding in Sprague-Dawley rats prior to hepatocyte isolation. The effects of GSO against diet-induced hepatic steatosis were further examined in C57BL/6J mice fed a HFD for 12 wk. Results: Oil Red O staining and intracellular triglyceride levels showed marked accumulation of lipid droplets in both HepG2 cells and rat hepatocytes, and these were attenuated by GSO treatment. In HFD-fed mice, GSO improved HFD-induced dyslipidemia and hepatic insulin resistance. Increased hepatic lipid contents were observed in HFD-fed mice and it was lowered in GSO (500 mg/kg)-treated mice by 26.4% which was evident in histological analysis. Pathway analysis of hepatic global gene expression indicated that GSO increased the expression of genes associated with ${\beta}$-oxidation (Ppara, Ppargc1a, Sirt1, and Cpt1a) and decreased the expression of lipogenic genes (Srebf1 and Mlxipl), and these were confirmed with reverse transcription and quantitative polymerase-chain reaction. Conclusion: These findings suggest that GSO has a beneficial effect on NAFLD through the suppression of lipogenesis and stimulation of fatty acid degradation pathway.