Obesity has been often associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. The development of obesity is also accompanied by significant differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes. In this study, we investigated the activity of α-mangostin, a major xanthone component isolated from the stem bark of G. malaccensis, on glucose uptake and adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells focusing on PPARγ, GLUT4, and leptin expressions. α-Mangostin was found to inhibit cytoplasmic lipid accumulation and adipogenic differentiation. Cells treated with 50 μM of α-mangostin reduced intracellular fat accumulation dose-dependently up to 44.4% relative to MDI-treated cells. Analyses of 2-deoxy-D-[3H] glucose uptake activity showed that α-mangostin significantly improved the glucose uptake (P < 0.05) with highest activity found at 25 μM. In addition, α-mangostin increased the amount of free fatty acids (FFA) released. The highest glycerol release level was observed at 50 μM of α-mangostin. qRT-PCR analysis showed reduced lipid accumulation via inhibition of PPARγ gene expression. Induction of glucose uptake and free fatty acid release by α-mangostin were accompanied by increasing mRNA expression of GLUT4 and leptin. These evidences propose that α-mangostin might be possible candidate for the effective management of obesity in future.

Friedelin and lanosterol have been isolated from twigs of Garcinia prainiana. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. The compounds were examined for their effects on 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In the MTT assay, it was found that the compounds had no cytotoxic effects up to 25 µM. Adipocyte differentiation analysis was carried out by Oil Red O staining method. In the presence of adipogenic cocktail (MDI), it was found that friedelin and lanosterol enhanced intracellular fat accumulation by 2.02 and 2.18-fold, respectively, compared with the vehicle-treated cells. Deoxyglucose uptake assay was used to examine the insulin sensitivity of adipocytes in the presence of the compounds. It was found that friedelin was able to stimulate glucose uptake up to 1.8-fold compared with insulin-treated cells. It was suggested that friedelin and lanosterol may be beneficial to mimic insulin action that would be useful in the treatment of diabetes type 2 patients.

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