Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Inhibits Basal Lipolysis by Activating PPAR-Gamma and Increasing Lipid Droplet-Associated Perilipin in Mature Rat Adipocytes

Nguyen Thi Thu Trang; Wan-Chun Chiu; Yu-Ting Feng; Shu-Lin Hsieh; Do Dinh Tung; Jungshan Chang; Tsorng-Harn Fong

doi:10.1155/2022/6007233

Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Inhibits Basal Lipolysis by Activating PPAR-Gamma and Increasing Lipid Droplet-Associated Perilipin in Mature Rat Adipocytes

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Aug 30:2022:6007233. doi: 10.1155/2022/6007233. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Nguyen Thi Thu Trang¹, Wan-Chun Chiu^{2

3}, Yu-Ting Feng⁴, Shu-Lin Hsieh⁵, Do Dinh Tung^{6

7}, Jungshan Chang^{1

5}, Tsorng-Harn Fong⁸

Affiliations

¹ International Ph.D. Program for Cell Therapy and Regeneration Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110010, Taiwan.
² School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, College of Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110010, Taiwan.
³ Research Center of Geriatric Nutrition, College of Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110010, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Early Childhood Care, Kun Shan University, Tainan 710303, Taiwan.
⁵ Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110010, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of High Technology, Saintpaul Hospital, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam.
⁷ Department of Internal Medicine, Military Medical University, Hanoi 100000, Vietnam.
⁸ Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110010, Taiwan.

Abstract

Abnormal lipolysis is correlated with metabolic syndrome. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a natural product from honeybee hives, has been reported to improve metabolic syndrome. However, the effects of CAPE on lipolysis and perilipin-1 (the major lipid droplet-associated protein) in mature adipocytes were not clarified. In this study, mature adipocytes were isolated from the epididymal fat pads of male rats and incubated with CAPE to estimate lipolysis by measuring glycerol release. It was found that the basal lipolysis was inhibited by CAPE in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 and phosphorylated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma levels increased following CAPE treatment by Western blot analysis. Moreover, a specific PPAR-gamma inhibitor (T0070907) could partly reverse the effect of CAPE on basal lipolysis. Furthermore, treatment of adipocytes with dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP) or isoproterenol (ISO) increased lipolysis, but the drug-induced lipolysis was abrogated by combination treatment with CAPE. The lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 level was also decreased in the drug-induced groups but increased when combined treatment with CAPE. In conclusion, our results revealed that a decrease in basal lipolysis and an increase in lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 levels induced by CAPE may be involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism through activation of PPAR-gamma in mature adipocytes.