To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the influence of quercetin on the physiological effects of hyperlipidemia, we investigated its role in the prevention of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and found that it regulated hepatic gene expression related to lipid metabolism. Quercetin supplementation in mice significantly reduced the HFD-induced gains in body weight, liver weight, and white adipose tissue weight compared with the mice fed only with HFD. It also significantly reduced HFD-induced increases in serum lipids, including cholesterol, triglyceride, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS). Consistent with the reduced liver weight and white adipose tissue weight, hepatic lipid accumulation and the size of lipid droplets in the epididymal fat pads were also reduced by quercetin supplementation. To further investigate how quercetin may reduce obesity, we analyzed lipid metabolism-related genes in the liver. Quercetin supplementation altered expression profiles of several lipid metabolism-related genes, including Fnta, Pon1, Pparg, Aldh1b1, Apoa4, Abcg5, Gpam, Acaca, Cd36, Fdft1, and Fasn, relative to those in HFD control mice. The expression patterns of these genes observed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction were confirmed by immunoblot assays. Collectively, our results indicate that quercetin prevents HFD-induced obesity in C57B1/6 mice, and its anti-obesity effects may be related to the regulation of lipogenesis at the level of transcription.

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Numerous medicinal plants and their derivatives have been reported to prevent obesity and related diseases. Although Syzygium aromaticum has traditionally been used as an anodyne, carminative and anthelmintic in Asian countries, its potential in the prevention and treatment of obesity has not yet been explored. Therefore, the present study investigated the anti-obesity effect of S. aromaticum ethanol extract (SAE) both in vitro and in vivo. To evaluate the anti-obesity potential of SAE in vitro, the effect of SAE treatment on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells was investigated. To evaluate its potential in vivo, mice were assigned to three groups: a group fed the American Institute of Nutrition AIN-76A diet (normal group), an experimental group fed a high-fat diet (HFD group) and an experimental group fed an HFD supplemented with 0.5% (w/w) SAE (HFD + SAE group). After 9 weeks of feeding, the body weight; white adipose tissue (WAT) mass; serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, glucose, insulin and leptin; hepatic lipid accumulation; and levels of lipid metabolism-related genes in the liver and WAT were measured. In vitro investigation of the effect of SAE treatment on 3T3-L1 cells revealed that it had efficiently inhibited the conversion of cells into adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo investigation revealed that SAE supplementation had significantly decreased HFD-induced increases in the body weight, liver weight, WAT mass, and serum TG, TC, lipid, glucose, insulin and leptin levels. Consistent with its effects on liver weight and WAT mass, SAE supplementation was found to have suppressed the expression of lipid metabolism-related proteins, including SREBP-1, FAS, CD36 and PPARγ in the liver and WAT, in addition to downregulating mRNA levels of transcription factors including Srebp and Pparg. SAE inhibits fat accumulation in HFD-fed mice via the suppression of transcription factors integral to adipogenesis and lipogenesis, suggesting its potential in preventing obesity.

No abstract

Macroautophagy/autophagy, a self-degradative process, regulates metabolic homeostasis in response to various stress conditions and is a therapeutic target for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. We found that autophagic activity was inhibited as a result of a significant reduction in the expression of autophagyrelated genes such as Ulk1 in a mouse model and patients with fatty liver. This downregulation was caused by increased Mir214-3p levels and decreased Hnf4a/Hnf4α mRNA levels in hepatocytes. Mir214-3p suppressed Ulk1 expression through direct binding at a 3′ untranslated region sequence. Hnf4a directly activated transcription of Ulk1. We investigated lipid accumulation and the expression of autophagyrelated genes in the livers of mice treated with anti-Mir214-3p. Hepatic steatosis was alleviated, and Ulk1 mRNA levels were significantly increased by locked nucleic acid-mediated Mir214-3p silencing. Additionally, autophagosome formation and MAP1LC3/LC3-II protein levels were increased, indicating an increase in autophagic activity. Interestingly, suppression of Mir214-3p did not ameliorate fatty liver under Ulk1 suppression, suggesting that reduced Mir214-3p levels mitigate hepatic steatosis through upregulation of Ulk1. These results demonstrate that inhibition of Mir214-3p expression ameliorated fatty liver disease through increased autophagic activity by increasing the expression of Ulk1. Thus, Mir214-3p is a potential therapeutic target for nonalcoholic fatty disease.