Momordica charantia (bitter melon) inhibits primary human adipocyte differentiation by modulating adipogenic genes

Abstract

BackgroundEscalating trends of obesity and associated type 2 diabetes (T2D) has prompted an increase in the use of alternative and complementary functional foods. Momordica charantia or bitter melon (BM) that is traditionally used to treat diabetes and complications has been demonstrated to alleviate hyperglycemia as well as reduce adiposity in rodents. However, its effects on human adipocytes remain unknown. The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of BM juice (BMJ) on lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation transcription factors in primary human differentiating preadipocytes and adipocytes.MethodsCommercially available cryopreserved primary human preadipocytes were treated with and without BMJ during and after differentiation. Cytotoxicity, lipid accumulation, and adipogenic genes mRNA expression was measured by commercial enzymatic assay kits and semi-quantitative RT-PCR (RT-PCR).ResultsPreadipocytes treated with varying concentrations of BMJ during differentiation demonstrated significant reduction in lipid content with a concomitant reduction in mRNA expression of adipocyte transcription factors such as, peroxisome proliferator-associated receptor γ (PPARγ) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) and adipocytokine, resistin. Similarly, adipocytes treated with BMJ for 48 h demonstrated reduced lipid content, perilipin mRNA expression, and increased lipolysis as measured by the release of glycerol.ConclusionOur data suggests that BMJ is a potent inhibitor of lipogenesis and stimulator of lipolysis activity in human adipocytes. BMJ may therefore prove to be an effective complementary or alternative therapy to reduce adipogenesis in humans.

Living with Sugar: Influence of Cultural Beliefs on Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management of English-Speaking Afro-Caribbean Women

“…Momordica charantia, the most popularly used plant among English-speaking Afro-Caribbean diabetics, is also used in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine to treat the disease [37,38]. Recent studies indicate that Momordica charantia might help control glucose levels [39,40]. In this study, participants complained about the bitter taste of Momordica charantia and other traditional Caribbean medicines.…”

Antidiabetic effects of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) and its medicinal potency

“…charantia and its various extracts and components are believed to exert their hypoglycemic effects via different physiological, pharmacological and biochemical modes [62][63][64] . The possible modes of the hypoglycemic actions of M. charantia and its various extracts and compounds are its hypoglycemic effect [67,70] , stimulation of peripheral and skeletal muscle glucose utilisation [71,72] , inhibition of intestinal glucose uptake [73][74][75] , inhibition of adipocyte differentiation [76] , suppression of key gluconeogenic enzymes [77,78] , stimulation of key enzyme of HMP pathway [77] , and preservation of islet β cells and their functions [66] . Today, over 140 different studies worldwide have investigated anti-hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic effects of the different extracts and ingredients of M. charantia in both human and animal models [32,33,62] .…”

Antioxidative properties of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) and zucchini<br>(Cucurbita pepo)

“…They also found that both water and ethanol extracts were effective in reducing the stable radical DPPH to the yellow colored diphenylpicryl hydrazine. The folk medicinal properties associated with bitter gourd includes treatment for various chronic and degenerative diseases, including, diabetes mellitus (Nerurkar et al, 2006;Aboa et al, 2008;Nerurkar et al, 2010) coronary heart disease and cancer (Slater, 1984;Cheng et al, 2003). The seeds of bitter gourd are believed to contain anticancer agents and remedies for gastrointestinal diseases (Beloin et al, 2005).…”