Black adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) extract exerts phenotypic effects on white adipose tissue and reverses liver steatosis in diet-induced obese mice

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to examine the extent to which black adzuki bean (BAB) extract attenuates the development of high‐fat diet‐induced obesity in mice. Four‐week‐old C57BL/6J mice were fed one of the following diets for 12 weeks: control diet containing 10% of its energy as fat (CD); high‐fat diet, containing 60% of its energy as fat (HD); high‐fat diet mixed with 1% freeze‐dried BAB extract powder (BAB); or high‐fat diet mixed with 0.08% kaempferol (Kfr). Compared to the HD group, the BAB group showed significantly reduced body weight, reduced white adipose tissue weight, and a reduced adipocyte phenotype. Moreover, the BAB group exhibited decreased signs of liver pathology, decreased liver weight, and decreased formation of hepatic lipid droplets. Lipogenesis‐associated genes were significantly downregulated in epididymal fat tissue, while lipolytic and β‐oxidation genes were upregulated in the BAB group relative to the HD group. Overall, BAB extract is a promising dietary supplement with the potential to attenuate obesity. Practical applications The adzuki bean has been traditionally consumed as a food and has been used as a traditional remedy in East Asia. Moreover, black adzuki beans have been shown to exhibit beneficial effects, such as anti‐obesity and anti‐steatosis effects, by regulating lipid metabolism.

Black Soybean and Adzuki Bean Extracts Lower Blood Pressure by Modulating the Renin-Angiotensin System in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

“…Similarly, black soybean powder decreased AST in the high cholesterol/fat diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease mice model [ 39 ]. The ethanol extracts from adzuki beans significantly decreased AST and ALT in high fat diet-induced obese mice [ 40 ]. In addition, adzuki bean water extracts reduced serum AST in a rat model that showed hepatotoxicity by acetaminophen [ 41 ].…”

The Potential of the Adzuki Bean (Vigna angularis) and Its Bioactive Compounds in Managing Type 2 Diabetes and Glucose Metabolism: A Narrative Review

“…Research studies involving the use of adzuki bean extract on animals also yielded uncertain outcomes regarding the effectiveness of adzuki bean extract in addressing obesity. Some studies reported positive results on the efficacy of adzuki bean supplementation in reducing obesity [ 38 , 39 , 48 , 52 , 55 ]. Lee et al [ 38 ] found that providing mice with 200 mg adzuki bean extract/kg BW/day significantly decreased the fat mass increased by a 12-week consumption of a high-fat diet ( p < 0.05).…”

Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis): Chemical compositions, physicochemical properties, health benefits, and food applications

“…The sample types, experimental models, and major results are listed in Table 1. The samples used in these studies were mostly prepared by whole seeds (Choi et al., 2020; Ha et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2017, 2019; Kitano‐Okada et al., 2019; Lee et al., 2019; Yook et al., 2017; Zhu et al., 2019). On the other hand, few studies focused on the bioactivity of adzuki bean constituents, such as proteins and peptides (Ashraf et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2017; Senpuku et al., 2019).…”

“…Decreases in body and liver weight gains and serum and liver lipid levels (e.g., cholesterol and triglyceride triacylglycerols) in different murine models were observed after the ingestion of adzuki bean extracts (Choi et al., 2020; Kim et al., 2017), pastes (Han, Oshahi, et al., 2020), purified flavonoids and saponins (Liu, Zheng, et al., 2017), and isolated 7S globulins (Ferreira et al., 2015), usually accompanied with increased excretion of fecal lipid and acidic sterol. These effects were related to the down‐regulation of lipogenic and lipolysis‐related transcriptional factors and the up‐regulation of fatty acid oxidation‐related transcriptional factors (Kim et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2019). Furthermore, reduced food intake was observed in different murine models, which might be attributed to the regulation of the hypothalamic neuropeptide expression (Kim et al., 2015).…”