Aqueous Extract of Kotahla Himbutu (Salacia reticulata) Stems Promotes Oxygen Comsumption and Supresses Body Fat Accumulation in Mice

Abstract

Kothala himbutu (KT) is a traditional medicinal plant used in treating diabetes in Ayurvedic medicine. We investigated the effect of the aqueous extract of KT stems (KTE) on energy expenditure in normal mice. Male C57BL/6J mice (n = 28) were divided into 4 groups depending on the type of diet they were fed for 9 weeks: normal (N) diet group (N: 13.8% energy in the form of fat), high-fat (HF) diet group (HF: 53.0% energy in the form of fat), 0.1% freeze-dried KTE (KTED)-supplemented N diet group (N+KTED), and 0.1% KTED-supplemented HF diet group (HF+KTED). KTED intake significantly reduced body weight gain in mice in the N and HF groups. Although it did not affect the plasma levels of glucose, triglyceride, and nonesterified fatty acid, KTED significantly decreased the HF diet-induced increased plasma insulin level. The epididymal and perirenal white adipose tissue (WAT) weights were significantly lower in the HF+KTED group than in the HF group. The oxygen consumption (VO 2 ), measured by indirect calorimetry, of the mice in the KTED-supplemented groups was significantly higher than that of the mice in the N and HF control groups. Moreover, KTED significantly reduced the size of epididymal WAT adipocytes in the N and HF groups. Thus, KTED promoted VO 2 and suppressed WAT accumulation in the mice on the N and HF diets. Therefore, KTE is beneficial in reducing N diet-and HF diet-induced obesity, which may be partly attributable to the stimulation of whole body energy metabolism.

Metabolic disease prevention and suppression of fat accumulation by Salacia reticulata

“…Also, S. reticulata significantly suppressed the accumulation of mesenteric adipose tissue in the TSOD mice but showed no effect in the TSNO mice. The significant suppression of adipose tissue accumulation by S. reticulata has been reported previously [2,5,11,22], and a similar result was obtained in this study. It is known that adipocyte hypertrophy changes adipocytokine secretion levels and is involved in the onset of various metabolic disease symptoms including insulin resistance [1].…”

“…It has previously been reported that S. reticulata and S. oblonga have antiobesity, antidiabetic, and lipid metabolism abnormality-alleviating effects [2,6,7,11,22]. Data represent the mean ± SD values (n = 9-10)…”

“…Salacia family plants have been reported to display activity against metabolic diseases by the following diverse mechanisms: inhibition of a-glucosidase in the small intestine [8], activation of PPARa [7], inhibition of AT 1 [9], inhibition of aldose reductase [10], and inhibition of FBP [11]. Since S. reticulata markedly suppressed fat accumulation and prevented adipocyte hypertrophy in this study, we hypothesized that the metabolic disease-preventing effect of S. reticulata involves adipocytes as the effector tissues.…”

“…S. oblonga, another Salacia family plant, has also been reported to have antiobesity and diabetes-alleviating effects [6,7]. The following mechanisms of action for these various effects of Salacia family plants have been reported: inhibition of a-glucosidase in the small intestine [8], activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARa) [7], inhibition of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT 1 ) [9], inhibition of aldose reductase [10], inhibition of gluconeogenic fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP) [4], and increased oxygen consumption [11]. Using Tsumura Suzuki obesity diabetes (TSOD) mice [12][13][14][15][16][17] (a spontaneously obese type II diabetes mouse model), we have already clarified that S. reticulata shows the following effects: suppression of body weight increase and visceral and subcutaneous fat accumulation, improvement of glucose/lipid metabolism, suppression of blood pressure increase, and prevention of peripheral nerve impairment, and reported that S. reticulata is a promising material showing effects not only on each individual metabolic disease but also on various symptoms of the entire metabolic syndrome [18].…”

Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Salacia Macrosperma

“…The roots are acrid, bitter, thermogenic, urinary, astringent, anodyne, anti-inflammatory and haemorrhoids [8]. The roots and stem have been widely used in treating diabetes and obesity, gonorrhoea, skin diseases and rheumatism [9,10]. It is also beneficial for the prevention of diabetes; obesity and lowers the lipid peroxide level ofthe kidney [11].…”