Antiobesity Effects of Sansa (Crataegi fructus) on 3T3-L1 Cells and on High-Fat–High-Cholesterol Diet-Induced Obese Rats

Abstract

This study was performed to investigate the effects of Crataegi fructus ethanol extracts (CFEEs) on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells, and to evaluate the effects of C. fructus powder (CFP) on lipid metabolism and its antiobesity effect in rats fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet. Both in vitro and in vivo studies were performed for physiological activity and antiobesity effects on the serum, liver, and adipose tissues in obesity-induced rats. CFEEs showed significant inhibitory action on differentiation and triglyceride (TG) accumulation in 3T3-L1 mature cells in a dose-dependent manner. Subcutaneous, mesenteric, epididymal, and total adipose tissue weights of HFC diet group were heavier than those of normal diet (N) group, whereas those of groups fed CFP were significantly decreased. Levels of serum TGs, total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly decreased in the CFP groups than in the HFC group, whereas the serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level decreased in the HFC group and markedly increased in the CFP groups. TC and TG levels in the liver and adipose tissues were significantly lower in CFP groups than in the HFC groups. In addition, feeding with CFP significantly reduced the occurrence of fatty liver deposits and steatosis, and inhibited an HFC diet-induced increase in adipocyte size. These results suggest that C. fructus may improve lipid metabolism in the serum, liver, and adipose tissue, and may potentially reduce lipid storage.

Huanglong Antitussive Granule Relieves Acute Asthma Through Regulating Pulmonary Lipid Homeostasis

“…Metabolomics combined with network pharmacology clarified that Astragalus atropilosulus regulated arachidonic acid metabolism and ether lipid metabolism (Wang et al, 2019). Platycodon grandiflorum and Crataegus pinnatifida ethanol extracts, as well as Ephedra sinica methanol extracts may also improve lipid metabolism (Lee et al, 2017;Kim et al, 2019b;Lee et al, 2019). Remarkably, ephedrine, astragaloside IV, calycosin and icariin, which were detected and identified in present study, may be linked to lipids alterations.…”

Antiobesity Potential of Fresh Cow Urine and its Distillate - A Biomedicine for Tomorrow

“…It was well documented in many studies that obesity is also related with a dyslipidemia with an increase in the levels of TG, LDL-C, VLDL-c and decrease in the levels of HDL-C. 25,26,27 The results and observations of this research showed that rats exposed to a diet containing high fat for 2 months increased the body weight significantly, thus it was confirmed the obese status of the rats fed with HFD. 28 The difference in the body weight was observed between the groups fed a HFD and normal diet, however, no substantial difference was detected in the daily food intake of animals. This observation revealed the fact that an increase in body weight was not dependent on the extent of food consumed by the rats but it was a result of consumption of HFD.As stated earlier high-fat diet resulted in lipid abnormalities associated to obesity include an raised serum concentration of fatty acids, TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C, TG and reduction in serum HDL-C. 29,30 results of the evaluation of lipid profile from control group of this study revealed similar observations thus here confirmed the establishment of the experimental model for the assessment of anti-obesity activity.…”

Potential Roles and Key Mechanisms of Hawthorn Extract against Various Liver Diseases

“…Hence, regulating both serum markers within normal limits can represent liver protection and maintenance of liver function. The extracts of C. oxyacantha [28], C. aronia [29], C. monogyna [30], and C. pinnatifida [31][32][33][34][35] significantly decreased serum AST and ALT levels, which were markedly elevated by high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-triglyceride, and high-fructose feeding. In addition, these hawthorn species lowered the serum levels of ALP, GGT, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin in the above animals [28,30,32,34,35].…”

“…The extracts of C. oxyacantha [28], C. aronia [29], C. monogyna [30], and C. pinnatifida [31][32][33][34][35] significantly decreased serum AST and ALT levels, which were markedly elevated by high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-triglyceride, and high-fructose feeding. In addition, these hawthorn species lowered the serum levels of ALP, GGT, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin in the above animals [28,30,32,34,35]. Histological analysis of liver tissues using high fat/cholesterol/fructose diet-induced rodents revealed that hepatocytes highly express pyknotic nuclei, vacuolation, sinusoidal distension, necrosis, damaged endoplasmic reticuli, swollen and pleomorphic mitochondria, distorted intercellular spaces, irregular nuclear membranes, nuclear chromatin condensation, and cellular degeneration, suggesting that these diets contribute to liver damage.…”

“…Hepatic steatosis is primarily characterized by histological findings of fatty infiltration and liver weight gain. As depicted in Figure 2, hawthorn extracts significantly reduced fat and cholesterol amounts in liver tissue, thereby decreasing the liver weight in rodents exposed to diet, ovariectomy, and alcohol-induced steatosis [28,29,[31][32][33][34][35][36]38,39,. In particular, the fruits and leaves of C. pinnatifida have been frequently administered for their antisteatotic effects [31][32][33][34][35][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]72,73].…”