Flavonoid-Rich Extract of Paulownia fortunei Flowers Attenuates Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemia, Hepatic Steatosis and Insulin Resistance in Obesity Mice by AMPK Pathway

Abstract

The flavonoid-rich extract from Paulownia fortunei flowers (EPF) has been reported to prevent obesity and other lipid metabolism disease. However, the mechanism of its protective effects is not yet clear. The objective of this study was to investigate molecular factors involved in the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of EPF in obese mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Male h ICR (Institute of Cancer Research) mice were fed a HFD containing or not containing the EPF (50 or 100 mg/kg) for eight weeks. EPF reduced body weight gain, lipid accumulation in livers and levels of lipid, glucose and insulin in plasma as well as reduced insulin resistance as compared with the HFD group. EPF significantly decreased serum aminotransferase activity of the HFD group. We observed that EPF administration significantly increased the level of AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and prevented fat deposits in livers and HepG2 cells, but these effects were blocked by compound C (an AMPK inhibitor). The protective effects of EPF were probably associated with the decrease in HMGCR, SREBP-1c and FAS expressions and the increase in CPT1 and phosphor-IRS-1 expressions. Our results suggest that EPF might be a potential natural candidate for the treatment and/or prevention of overweight and hepatic and metabolic-related alterations induced by HFD.

Effects of Polyphenol-Rich Foods on Human Health

“…This Special Issue “Effects of Polyphenol-Rich Foods on Human Health” comprises 64 peer-reviewed papers, including 43 original research papers [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ], one case-report [ 51 ] and 20 literature reviews [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ...…”

Prenylated flavonoid‐standardized extract from seeds of Psoralea corylifolia L. activated fat browning in high‐fat diet–induced obese mice

“…A large number of studies have reported the beneficial effects of dietary flavonoids on human health (Hossain et al, 2016). Numerous flavonoids including those in Paulownia fortunei flowers, green tea, and cinnamon have been found to protect against obesity-related complications, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (Liu et al, 2017;Tuzcu, Orhan, Sahin, Juturu, & Sahin, 2017;Yamashita et al, 2018). However, to our knowledge, there is no report on anti-obesity activity of prenylated flavonoids in the seeds of P. corylifolia L. We found that PFE protected against obesity and significantly reduced bodyweight, fat mass, and white adipose cells in the HFD-induced obese mice.…”

Exosomal microRNA Expression Profiling Analysis of the Effects of Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharide on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Mice

“…We found that the protein expression of HMGCR which is the target gene of miR-93-3p was similar in control and GDM mice, while protein expression of miR-188-5p target gene CPT1A was significantly reduced in GDM mice and it can be notably reversed by LBP treatment. CPT1A can catalyze the entrance of fatty acids into the mitochondria and it is the rate limiting enzyme of hepatic fatty acid β-oxidation [33].…”