Salidroside improves glucose homeostasis in obese mice by repressing inflammation in white adipose tissues and improving leptin sensitivity in hypothalamus

Abstract

Salidroside is a functionally versatile natural compound from the perennial flowering plant Rhodiola rosea L. Here, we examined obese mice treated with salidroside at the dosage of 50 mg/kg/day for 48 days. Mice treated with salidroside showed slightly decreased food intake, body weight and hepatic triglyceride content. Importantly, salidroside treatment significantly improved glucose and insulin tolerance. It also increased insulin singling in both liver and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT). In addition, salidroside markedly ameliorated hyperglycemia in treated mice, which is likely due to the suppression of gluconeogenesis by salidroside as the protein levels of a gluconeogenic enzyme G6Pase and a co-activator PGC-1α were all markedly decreased. Further analysis revealed that adipogenesis in eWAT was significantly decreased in salidroside treated mice. The infiltration of macrophages in eWAT and the productions of pro-inflammatory cytokines were also markedly suppressed by salidroside. Furthermore, the leptin signal transduction in hypothalamus was improved by salidroside. Taken together, these euglycemic effects of salidroside may due to repression of adipogenesis and inflammation in eWAT and stimulation of leptin signal transduction in hypothalamus. Thus, salidroside might be used as an effective anti-diabetic agent.

Rhodiola rosea L.: an Herb with Anti-Stress, Anti-Aging, and Immunostimulating Properties for Cancer Chemoprevention

“…Oral or intravenous administration of Rhodiola extracts or salidroside at a single dose ranging from 12 mg/kg to 75 mg/kg can achieve plasma concentrations of 4.3 to 96.2 microgram/mL, which are dependent on animal species, dosages and administration routes [139–143]. In a study by Wang et al [144] for investigating the potential anti-diabetic effects of salidroside, mice drank 0.3 mg/ml salidroside containing water daily and were fed with high fat diet for 48 days. At the end of the experiment, the plasma salidroside concentration was measured to be 52.8 ± 9.4 μg/ml (~175 μM).…”

Salsalate Activates Skeletal Muscle Thermogenesis and Protects Mice from High-Fat Diet Induced Metabolic Dysfunction

“…Epididymal white adipose tissue and liver were fixed with 4% normal buffered paraformaldehyde solution and embedded in paraffin. Hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining was performed using standard protocols ( Wang et al 2016 ). Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity staining was carried out on sections of gastrocnemius muscle with the method described elsewhere ( Blanco et al 1988 ).…”

Rhodiola rosea L., Rosenwurz

“…In Tierexperimenten wurden stoffwechselnormalisierende Effekte nach Applikation von Rosenwurzwurzel-Extrakten beobachtet. Insbesondere Salidrosid führte zu einer Verbesserung der Glucose-Homöostase in fettleibigen Mäusen, verbunden mit einer systemischen Entzündungshemmung sowie zur verbesserten Ansprechbarkeit gegenüber Leptin im Hypothalamus, einem wichtigen Regulator des Stoffwechsels [25]. Im Tierexperiment konnten bei einer täglichen Dosis von Salidrosid (50-200 mg/kg) hypoglykämische Effekte nachgewiesen werden.…”