Ethanol Extract from Ulva prolifera Prevents High-Fat Diet-Induced Insulin Resistance, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation Response in Mice

Abstract

Ulva prolifera is the major causative species in the green tide, a serious marine ecological disaster, which bloomed in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea of China. However, it is also a popular edible seaweed and its extracts exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. The present study investigated the effects of ethanol extract of U. prolifera (EUP) on insulin sensitivity, inflammatory response, and oxidative stress in high-fat-diet- (HFD-) treated mice. HFD-treated mice obtained drinking water containing 2% or 5% EUP. The results showed that EUP supplementation significantly prevented HFD-induced weight gain of liver and fat. EUP supplementation also improved glucose tolerance and insulin resistance in HFD-treated mice. Moreover, EUP supplementation prevented the increased expression of genes involved in triglyceride synthesis and proinflammatory genes and the decreased expression of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation in liver of HFD-treated mice. Furthermore, EUP supplementation decreased reactive oxygen species content, while increasing glutathione content and glutathione peroxidase activity in HFD-treated mice. In conclusion, our results showed that EUP improved insulin resistance and had antilipid accumulation and anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects on HFD-treated mice. We suggested that U. prolifera extracts may be regarded as potential candidate for the prevention of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Diphlorethohydroxycarmalol Attenuates Palmitate-Induced Hepatic Lipogenesis and Inflammation

“…Therefore, natural products have been considered as alternative treatments to prevent NAFLD, or to stop its progression through several mechanisms, such as the downregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, antioxidant effects, or by anti-dyslipidemic properties [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Recently, constituents of seaweed origin have emerged in studies seeking improvements in NAFLD [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Seaweeds as nutraceuticals for health and nutrition

“…The in vivo anti-diabetic efficacy of seaweed has been shown in many animal studies (Gabbia et al 2017;Roy et al 2011;Song et al 2018;Zhao et al 2018). In human clinical trials, daily supplementation with Undaria pinnatifida and Sacchariza polyschides (as Gigantea bulbosa) balances blood glucose levels, decreases serum triglyceride concentrations, and increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in subjects with type 2 diabetes (Kim et al 2008).…”

Ameliorative effects of ark clams (Scapharca subcrenata and Tegillarca granosa) on endothelial dysfunction induced by a high-fat diet

“…The chronic high-fat (HF) diet induces endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance leads to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes [14,15]. The HF diet has been widely used for assessing the preventive effect of foods on endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance [16,17]. In this study, the ameliorative effects of AS and GA on HFinduced endothelial dysfunction were evaluated.…”