Exp Mol Med.  2011 Apr;43(4):205-215. 10.3858/emm.2011.43.4.025.

Anti-obesity effects of Lysimachia foenum-graecum characterized by decreased adipogenesis and regulated lipid metabolism

• Seo JB
• Choe SS
• Jeong HW
• Park SW
• Shin HJ
• Choi SM
• Park JY
• Choi EW
• Kim JB
• Seen DS
• Jeong JY
• Lee TG

• KMID: 1104390
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3858/emm.2011.43.4.025

Abstract

Lysimachia foenum-graecum has been used as an oriental medicine with anti-inflammatory effect. The anti-obesity effect of L. foenum-graecum extract (LFE) was first discovered in our screening of natural product extract library against adipogenesis. To characterize its anti-obesity effects and to evaluate its potential as an anti-obesity drug, we performed various obesity-related experiments in vitro and in vivo. In adipogenesis assay, LFE blocked the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 of 2.5 microg/ml. In addition, LFE suppressed the expression of lipogenic genes, while increasing the expression of lipolytic genes in vitro at 10 microg/ml and in vivo at 100 mg/kg/day. The anti-adipogenic and anti-lipogenic effect of LFE seems to be mediated by the inhibition of PPARgamma and C/EBPalpha expression as shown in in vitro and in vivo, and the suppression of PPARgamma activity in vitro. Moreover, LFE stimulated fatty acid oxidation in an AMPK-dependent manner. In high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice (n = 8/group), oral administration of LFE at 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg/day decreased total body weight gain significantly in all doses tested. No difference in food intake was observed between vehicle- and LFE-treated HFD mice. The weight of white adipose tissues including abdominal subcutaneous, epididymal, and perirenal adipose tissue was reduced markedly in LFE-treated HFD mice in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of LFE also greatly improved serum levels of obesity-related biomarkers such as glucose, triglycerides, and adipocytokines leptin, adiponectin, and resistin. All together, these results showed anti-obesity effects of LFE on adipogenesis and lipid metabolism in vitro and in vivo and raised a possibility of developing LFE as anti-obesity therapeutics.

Keyword

adipocyte differentiation; fatty acid oxidation; fatty acid synthesis; lipid metabolism; Lysimachia foenum-graecum; obesity

MeSH Terms

3T3-L1 Cells
Adipogenesis/*drug effects
Adipose Tissue/drug effects/metabolism
Adipose Tissue, White
Animals
Anti-Obesity Agents/administration & dosage/pharmacology/*therapeutic use
Body Weight/drug effects
CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-alpha/genetics
Cell Differentiation/drug effects
Eating/drug effects
Fatty Acids/metabolism
Gene Expression/drug effects
Lipid Metabolism/*drug effects
Lipids
Lipogenesis/drug effects
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Obesity/prevention & control
PPAR gamma/antagonists & inhibitors/genetics
Plant Extracts/*pharmacology
Plants, Medicinal
Primulaceae/*chemistry