The improved effects of dietary chickpeas on visceral adiposity, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance were examined. Rats were fed a normal-fat diet (NFD), a high-fat diet (HFD) or a high-fat plus chickpea diet (HFD þ CP) for 8 months. The epididymal fat pad weight v. total body weight of rats was higher in the HFD group (0·032 (SD 0·0042) g/g) than in the NFD group (0·015 (SD 0·0064) g/g) and smaller in the HFD þ CP group (0·023 (SD 0·0072) g/g) compared with the HFD group (P, 0·05). Chickpea treatment also induced a favourable plasma lipid profile reflecting decreased TAG, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and LDL-C:HDL-cholesterol levels (P, 0·05). HFD-fed rats had higher TAG concentration in muscle and liver, whereas the addition of chickpeas to the HFD drastically lowered TAG concentration (muscle, 39 %; liver, 23 %). The activities of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in epididymal adipose tissue and hepatic TAG lipase in liver recorded a 40 and 23 % increase respectively in HFD rats compared with those in NFD rats; dietary chickpeas completely normalised the levels. Furthermore, chickpea-treated obese rats also showed a markedly lower leptin and LPL mRNA content in epididymal adipose tissue. An insulin tolerance test, oral glucose tolerance test and insulinreleasing test showed that chickpeas significantly improved insulin resistance, and prevented postprandial hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia induced by the chronic HFD. The present findings provide a rational basis for the consumption of chickpeas as a functional food ingredient, which may be beneficial for correcting dyslipidaemia and preventing diabetes. Chickpeas: Visceral adiposity: Dyslipidaemia: Insulin resistanceObesity is the most common nutritional disorder in the developed world and is a strong risk factor for hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, CVD and type 2 diabetes mellitus, which are closely linked with insulin resistance, and collectively called the metabolic syndrome 1 . Obesity causes excess fat accumulation not only in adipocytes but also ectopically in tissues such as muscle, liver, b cells and others, predisposing to the development of insulin resistance. Especially, skeletal muscle is a major site for insulin-stimulated glucose disposal 2 and the accumulation of TAG within lipid droplets in skeletal muscle is positively correlated to the severity of insulin resistance 3,4 .Recently, there has been growing interest in the use of medical plants and health foods for the treatment and prevention of disease 5,6 . Therefore, studies on obesity and diabetes as lifestyle-related diseases have focused on the search of functional food ingredients that suppress the accumulation of body fat and improve lipid metabolism 7 -9 , effects that, in turn, are beneficial for the amelioration of insulin resistance and prevention of type 2 diabetes.The chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the world's most important legume crops as it contains approximately 50 % available carbohydrate, primarily in the form of starch, and 6·4 % fat, of which most is unsaturated (for examp...

A single factorial experiment was conducted to test the effects of three dietary levels of energy on mRNA expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS-mRNA) and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL-mRNA) and their association with intramuscular fat in finishing pigs. 72 crossbred (Large White×Rongchang) barrows with an average initial body weight of 20.71 (s.e. 0.1) kg, were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments (11.75, 13.05 and 14.36 MJ DE/kg) and fed until slaughtered at 100 or 101 kg. The diets were iso-nitrogenous and iso-essential amino acids. The growth performances including the duration of finishing were changed linearly (p<0.05) or quadratically (p<0.05) with increased dietary energy levels. The effects of dietary energy content on the percentage of external fat, intramuscular backfat and the fat thickness were linear (p<0.05). The content of dietary energy increased FAS-mRNA linearly or quadratically, while HSL-mRNA decreased linearly or quadratically in backfat and Longissmus dorsi muscle. Meanwhile, significant positive correlations (p<0.05) were found between energy level and intramuscular fat, FAS-mRNA or the ratio of FAS-mRNA to HSL-mRNA, between the ratio of FAS-mRNA to HSL-mRNA and intramuscular fat. However, the correlations between HSL mRNA and dietary energy or intramuscular fat were negative (p<0.05). The results indicated that dietary energy level regulates lipid accumulation, especially intramuscular fat, possibly by modulating the mRNA of FAS and HSL together rather than individually.

Endothelin-1, a 21-residue peptide isolated from vascular endothelial cells, has a broad spectrum of actions. To clarify the involvement of endothelin-1 in acute pancreatitis, we examined the effects of endothelin-1 and its receptor antagonist BQ-123 on cerulein-induced pancreatitis in rats. Rats were infused intravenously with heparin-saline (control), endothelin-1 (100 pmol/kg/hr), cerulein (5 micrograms/kg/hr), or cerulein plus endothelin-1 for 3.5 hr. In another experiment, cerulein or cerulein plus BQ-123 (3 mg/kg/hr) was infused. Infusion of cerulein caused hyperamylasemia and pancreatic edema. Endothelin-1, when infused with cerulein, decreased the extent of pancreatic edema with a significant increase in the pancreatic dry- to wet-weight ratio. Histological changes induced by cerulein were markedly attenuated when endothelin-1 was given with cerulein. In contrast, endothelin-receptor blockade with BQ-123 further augmented pancreatic edema caused by cerulein. The extent of inflammatory cell infiltration was greater than BQ-123 was given with cerulein. Endothelin-1 or BQ-123 had no influence on hyperamylasemia. This study suggests that endothelin-1 has protective effects on experimental acute pancreatitis.

Desi-type chickpeas, which have long been used as a natural treatment for diabetes, have been reported to lower visceral adiposity, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance induced by a chronic high-fat diet in rats. In this study, in order to examine the effects of chickpeas of this type in an in vitro system, we used the 3T3-L1 mouse cell line, a subclone of Swiss 3T3 cells, which can differentiate into cells with an adipocyte-like phenotype, and we used ethanol extracts of chickpeas (ECP) instead of chickpeas. Treatment of the 3T3-L1 cells with ECP led to a decrease in the lipid content in the cells. The desaturation index, defined as monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs)/saturated fatty acids (SFAs), was also decreased by ECP due to an increase in the cellular content of SFAs and a decrease in the content of MUFAs. The decrease in this index may reflect a decreased reaction from SFA to MUFA, which is essential for fat storage. To confirm this hypothesis, we conducted a western blot analysis, which revealed a reduction in the amount of stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1), a key enzyme catalyzing the reaction from SFA to MUFA. We observed simultaneous inactivations of enzymes participating in lipogenesis, i.e., liver kinase B1 (LKB1), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and AMPK, by phosphorylation, which may lead to the suppression of reactions from acetyl-CoA to SFA via malonyl-CoA in lipogenesis. We also investigated whether lipolysis is affected by ECP. The amount of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), an enzyme important for the oxidation of fatty acids, was increased by ECP treatment. ECP also led to an increase in uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2), reported as a key protein for the oxidation of fatty acids. All of these results obtained regarding lipogenesis and fatty acid metabolism in our in vitro system are consistent with the results previously shown in rats. We also examined the effects on SCD1 and lipid contents of ethanol extracts of Kabuli-type chickpeas, which are used worldwide. The effects were similar, but of much lesser magnitude compared to those of ECP described above. Thus, Desi-type chickpeas may prove to be effective for the treatment of diabetes, as they can alter the lipid content, thus reducing fat storage.