Nutr Res Pract.  2016 Feb;10(1):42-48. 10.4162/nrp.2016.10.1.42.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects of brown seaweeds in high-fat diet-induced obese mice

• Oh JH
• Kim J
• Lee Y

• KMID: 2313899
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2016.10.1.42

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
Seaweeds have been reported to have various health beneficial effects. In this study, we investigated the potential anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory effects of four types of domestic brown seaweeds in a high-fat diet-induced obese mouse model and bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM).
MATERIALS/METHODS
Male C57BL/6N mice were fed low-fat diet (LFD), high-fat diet (HFD) or HFD containing Undaria Pinnatifida, HFD containing Laminaria Japonica (LJ), HFD containing Sargassum Fulvellum, or HFD containing Hizikia Fusiforme (HF) for 16 weeks.
RESULTS
Brown seaweed supplementation did not affect long-term HFD-associated changes in body weight or adiposity, although mice fed HFD + LJ or HFD + HF gained slightly less body weight compared with those fed HFD at the beginning of feeding. Despite being obese, mice fed HFD + LJ appeared to show improved insulin sensitivity compared to mice fed HFD. Consistently, we observed significantly reduced blood glucose concentrations in mice fed HFD + LJ compared with those of mice fed HFD. Although no significant differences in adipocyte size were detected among the HFD-fed groups, consumption of seaweeds decreased formation of HFD-induced crown-like structures in gonadal adipose tissue as well as plasma inflammatory cytokines. BMDM from mice fed HFDs with seaweeds showed differential regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta and IL-6 compared with BMDM from mice fed HFD by LPS stimulation.
CONCLUSION
Although seaweed consumption did not prevent long-term HFD-induced obesity in C57BL/6N mice, it reduced insulin resistance (IR) and circulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, seaweeds may ameliorate systemic inflammation and IR in obesity partially due to inhibition of inflammatory signaling in adipose tissue cells as well as bone marrow-derived immune cells.

Keyword

Seaweed; anti-inflammation; anti-diabetic; high-fat diet; BMDM

MeSH Terms

Adipocytes
Adipose Tissue
Adiposity
Animals
Blood Glucose
Body Weight
Cytokines
Diet, Fat-Restricted
Diet, High-Fat
Gonads
Humans
Inflammation
Insulin Resistance
Interleukin-6
Laminaria
Macrophages
Male
Mice
Mice, Obese*
Obesity
Plasma
Sargassum
Seaweed
Undaria
Blood Glucose
Cytokines
Interleukin-6

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Body weight changes in mice fed LFD, HFD, and HFD supplemented with UP, LJ, SF, or HF for 16 weeks. LFD: low-fat diet, HFD: high-fat diet, UP: Undaria pinnatifida, LJ: Laminaria japonica, SF: Sargassum fulvellum, HF: Hizikia fusiforme. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM (n = 6). * P < 0.05 vs. high fat diet (HFD) group by ANOVA.

• 

  Fig. 2 ITT and area under the curve (AUC) at week 14 of feeding in C57BL/6N mice. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM (n = 6). Panel A: ITT was performed in 6 h-fasted mice after week 14 of feeding, Panel B: Bars that do not share the same superscript are significantly different by ANOVA (P < 0.05).

• 

  Fig. 3 Dead adipocytes (CLS) and adipocyte area of gonadal adipose tissue of mice fed LFD, HFD, HFD + UP, HFD + LJ, HFD + SF, or HFD + HF for 16 weeks. Panel A: Representative H&E staining of gonadal adipose tissue sections (magnification 100×). Scale bar represents 100 µm, Panel B: number of CLS from each group. Panel C: adipocyte area from each group. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM (n = 6), and bars that do not share the same superscript are significantly different by ANOVA (P < 0.05).

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