The Extract of Herbal Medicines Activates AMP-Activated Protein Kinase in Diet-Induced Obese Rats
Our study investigated whether the extract of six herbal medicines (OB-1) has an inhibitory effect on obesity. High-fat diet-(HFD-) induced rats and controls were treated with 40 mg/100 g body weight of OB-1 or saline once a day for 5 weeks. After significant changes in body weight were induced, OB-...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Hindawi Limited
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/756025 |
| Summary: | Our study investigated whether the extract of six herbal medicines (OB-1) has an inhibitory effect on obesity. High-fat diet-(HFD-) induced rats and controls were treated with 40 mg/100 g body weight of OB-1 or saline once a day for 5 weeks. After significant changes in body weight were induced, OB-1 and saline were administered to each subgroup of HFD and control groups for additional 5 weeks. No statistically significant decrease of body weight in OB-1-treated rats was found compared to controls. However, OB-1-treated rats were found to be more active in an open-field test and have a reduction in the size of adipocytes compared to controls. We observed no changes in the mRNA expressions of leptin and adiponectin from adipocytes between OB-1- and saline-treated rats with HFD-induced obesity group. However, OB-1 treatments were shown to be inversely correlated with accumulation of lipid droplets in liver tissue, suggesting that OB-1 could inhibit a lipid accumulation by blocking the pathway related to lipid metabolism. Moreover, the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was significantly increased in OB-1-treated rats with HFD compared to controls. These results suggest that OB-1 has no direct antiobesity effect and, however, could be a regulator of cellular metabolism. |
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| ISSN: | 1741-427X 1741-4288 |