Obesity is a serious health problem, and its prevention is promoted through life style including diet and exercise. In this study, we investigated the suppressive effects of tea catechin on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes to adipocytes. (-)-Catechin 3-gallate (CG), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epicatechin 3-gallate, and (-)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate at 5 muM suppressed intracellular lipid accumulation. The suppressive effects of CG and EGC were stronger than the others, and CG and EGC also suppressed the activity of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase as a differentiation marker. These catechins inhibited the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma2 and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) alpha, both of which act as key transcription factors at an early stage of differentiation, followed by the expression of glucose transporter (GLUT) 4 at a later stage. In addition, the catechins did not affect the phosphorylation status of the insulin signal pathway. Thus, catechin suppressed adipocyte differentiation accompanied by the down-regulation of PPARgamma2, C/EBPalpha, and GLUT4. These results suggest that tea catechin prevents obesity through the suppression of adipocyte differentiation.

To investigate mechanisms of the anti-obesity actions of green tea in vivo, rats were given green tea instead of drinking water for 3 weeks. It was confirmed that green tea reduced adipose tissue weight without any change in body weight, other tissue weights, and food and water intakes. Green tea also significantly reduced the plasma levels of cholesterols and free fatty acids. Certain catechins existed in the plasma at 0.24 microM under our experimental conditions, though most of them existed as conjugated forms. For mechanisms of the anti-obesity actions, green tea significantly reduced glucose uptake accompanied by a decrease in translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in adipose tissue, while it significantly stimulated the glucose uptake with GLUT4 translocation in skeletal muscle. Moreover, green tea suppressed the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and the activation of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 in adipose tissue. In conclusion, green tea modulates the glucose uptake system in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle and suppresses the expression and/or activation of adipogenesis-related transcription factors, as the possible mechanisms of its anti-obesity actions.

The findings implicate ELN as a susceptibility gene for PCV, and suggest that a different pathogenic process may be involved in the phenotypic expression of neovascular AMD and PCV.

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Recessive (1 df) 0.28 (0.11-0.69) 0.0035 (0.0022)Abbreviations: df, degree of freedom; CI, confidence interval; OR het and OR hom , odds ratio for heterozygote and rare homozygote, respectively, estimated by unconditional logistic regression.