Obesity-alleviating potential of asiatic acid and its effects on ACC1, UCP2, and CPT1 mRNA expression in high fat diet-induced obese Sprague–Dawley rats

Abstract

The present study evaluated the effects of asiatic acid (AA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid from Centella asiatica on lipid metabolism parameters in a rat model of obesity induced using a high fat diet (HFD) for 42 days. AA (20 mg/kg body weight [BW]) was administered orally once daily for 42 days, and an orlistat-treated group of rats (10 mg/kg BW) was included for comparison. Changes in BW, blood glucose levels, insulin resistance and leptin, adiponectin, amylase, and lipase levels in the blood; lipid profiles of plasma; liver antioxidants levels; and acetyl CoA carboxylase(ACC), uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2), and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 (CPT1) mRNA expression were observed in the experimental rats. Our results revealed that AA (20 mg/kg BW), similar to orlistat, reduced the increase in BW; increased bone mineral contents and bone mineral densities; reduced blood glucose levels, insulin resistance, leptin, plasma lipid levels; increased adiponectin, amylase, lipase levels in the blood; showed antioxidant activity; and altered mRNA expression of lipid metabolism-related genes, including ACC, UCP 2, and CPT 1, in the HFD-fed rats. From these results, we concluded that AA possesses significant anti-obesity potential through the suppression of BW gain, lipid lowering action, development of insulin and leptin sensitivity, antioxidant activity, and increased mRNA expression of lipid metabolism-related genes.

Prolonged Exposure to Different Types of Energy Restricted Calcium Diet Modulates the Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Response in Healthy Male Rats

“…Histopathological analysis of liver in our low calcium fed rats showed that there is an accumulation of lipid droplets and, on the other hand, the reversed effect was shown by high calcium diet showing normal physiological hepatic architecture. Similar morphological alteration such as hepatic lipid accumulation in the form of lipid droplets and swelling of hepatocytes was observed in diet-induced obese rats [29].…”

Pharmacological Properties, Molecular Mechanisms, and Pharmaceutical Development of Asiatic Acid: A Pentacyclic Triterpenoid of Therapeutic Promise

“…AA also favorably altered expression of lipid metabolism-related genes including acetyl CoA carboxylase, uncoupling protein-2 , and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 along with improved bone mineral contents and bone mineral density. The effects were found comparable to the standard drug used in obesity management, orlistat, a pancreatic lipase inhibitor (Rameshreddy et al, 2018 ). Recently, AA suppressed octanoylated ghrelin levels in AGS-GHRL8 cell line assay without decreasing transcript expression of a Ghrelin O-acyltransferase on octanoylated ghrelin production.…”

“…Many triterpenes including AA also reported to elicit antiobesity effects. In a recent study, AA showed an anti-obesity action in high-fat food fed rat model of obesity as evidenced by the improved antioxidant activities, regulation of lipid metabolism, and insulin and leptin sensitivity in addition to reduction in body weight gain (Rameshreddy et al, 2018 ). AA also favorably altered expression of lipid metabolism-related genes including acetyl CoA carboxylase, uncoupling protein-2 , and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 along with improved bone mineral contents and bone mineral density.…”

Pharmacological Action of a Pregnane Glycoside, Russelioside B, in Dietary Obese Rats: Impact on Weight Gain and Energy Expenditure

“…In rodent models, activation of brown adipose tissue was suggested to improve glucose homeostasis and ameliorate insulin resistance (Peirce and Vidal-Puig, 2013; Zaitone et al, 2015). CPT-1 upregulation is well-known to play a role in obesity alleviation (Rameshreddy et al, 2018). Upregulation of both genes may be also linked to enhanced lipolysis and decreased TGs level, where the released free fatty acids are transported to the mitochondria via the activated CPT-1 enzyme, with simultaneous induction of the thermogenic activity of UCP-1 (Bargut et al, 2016).…”