OBJECTIVE: Based on the inhibitory effects of teasaponin on pancreatic lipase activity in vitro, this study was performed to clarify whether teasaponin prevented obesity induced in mice by a high-fat diet for 11 weeks. DESIGN: For in vitro experiments, assay for the inhibitory effects of teasaponin on pancreatic lipase activity was performed by measuring the rate of release of oleic acid from triolein in an assay system using triolein emulsified with lecithin, gum arabic, Triton X-100 or 4-methylumbelliferyloleate. For in vivo experiments, female ICR mice were fed a high-fat diet with or without 0.5% teasaponin for 11 weeks. RESULTS: Teasaponin competitively inhibited the hydrolysis of triolein emulsified with lecithin, gum arabic, Triton X-100 or 4-methylumbelliferyloleate. Teasaponin inhibited the elevations of plasma triacylglycerol levels 3, 4 and 5 h after oral administration of lipid emulsion containing corn oil. Teasaponin suppressed the increases in body, parametrial adipose tissue weights and diameter in adipose cell size induced by a high-fat diet. Furthermore, feeding a high-fat diet plus teasaponin had no effect on stool frequency and content, but significantly increased triacylglycerol contents in feces as compared to feeding a high-fat diet. CONCLUSIONS: The anti-obesity effects of teasaponin in high-fat diet-treated mice may be partly mediated through delaying the intestinal absorption of dietary fat by inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity.
From the air-dried root of Glycyrrhiza uralensis, collected in the northeastern part of China, ten new oleanane-type triterpene oligoglycosides were isolated together with glycyrrhizin (1) and several known flavonoids. Among the newly isolated triterpene oligoglycosides, the chemical structures of licorice-saponin A3 (2), licorice-saponin B2 (3), and licorice-saponin C2 (4) have been determined, on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence, to be expressed as 30-O-beta-D-glucopyranosylglycyrrhizin, 11-deoxo-glycyrrhizin, and 3-O-[beta-D-glucuronpyranosyl(1-->2)-beta-D-glucuronpyranosyl++ +]oleana- 11,13(18)-dien-30-oic acid, respectively. During the course of these studies, facile conversions from glycyrrhizin (1) to licorice-saponins A3 (2), B2 (3), and C2 (4) have been accomplished.
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