Obesity is a multi-factorial metabolic syndrome that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. We recently demonstrated the antiadipogenic efficacy of lutein using a 3 T3-L1 cell culture model. This study aimed to examine the antiobesity efficacy of lutein on high-fat (60% kcal fat) diet-induced C57BL/6J obese mice model. Lutein (300 and 500 μM), Orlistat (30 mg/kg body weight - positive control), and its combination (orlistat, 15 mg/kg body weight+lutein, 300 μM) were administered in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice every other day for 24 weeks. The effect on serum and hepatic lipid parameters was estimated using biochemical assay kits. The adipose tissue expression of adipocyte differentiation markers at gene and protein levels was analyzed by RT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. The results showed that lutein administration and drug significantly reduced epididymal and abdominal adipose tissue weights. Further, lutein reduced the serum cholesterol and LDL-C concentration compared to the HFD group. The HFD-induced elevation in the hepatic triglycerides and cholesterol levels were significantly blocked by lutein and its combination with the drug. Similarly, lutein and its drug combination efficiently lowered the HFD-mediated elevated blood glucose levels. Lutein downregulated the expression of CEBP-α, PPAR-γ, and FAS in the epididymal adipose tissue. Thus, supplementation of lutein may control diet-induced obesity and associated complications in the human population.
Keywords: fatty liver; glucose intolerance; high-fat diet; lutein; obesity.
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