Garcinia cambogia water extract alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic lipid accumulation in mice fed a high-fat diet

Jinya Dong; Wen Li; Xiaocui Du; Xiaofang He; Bin Deng; Hongmei Zheng; Yang Tian; Jun Sheng; Chongye Fang

doi:10.29219/fnr.v67.8977

Garcinia cambogia water extract alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic lipid accumulation in mice fed a high-fat diet

Food Nutr Res. 2023 Mar 14:67. doi: 10.29219/fnr.v67.8977. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jinya Dong^{1

2}, Wen Li³, Xiaocui Du^{1

2}, Xiaofang He¹, Bin Deng³, Hongmei Zheng³, Yang Tian⁴, Jun Sheng^{1

4}, Chongye Fang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Yunnan Research Center for Advanced Tea Processing, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
² College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.
³ Yunnan Rural Science and Technology Service Center, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
⁴ College of Food Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, China.

Abstract

Background: Garcinia cambogia is widely used as a weight-loss supplement, and it is reported to be negatively associated with metabolic diseases including insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and dyslipidemia.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of G. cambogia water extract (GE) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, IR, and hepatic lipid accumulation.

Design: C57BL/6 male mice were fed HFD with or without GE, GED and GEP for 16 weeks, and the mice were subjected to insulin tolerance tests and liver histological analysis. The hydroxycitric acid (HCA) levels of GE, GED, and GEP were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Results: The results showed that GE significantly reduced HFD-induced body weight gain (P < 0.001), alleviated IR (P < 0.01), reduced serum total cholesterol (TC) (P < 0.001), and attenuated HFD-induced hepatic lipid accumulation. To investigate the constituent that was responsible for these effects, we separated GE into the component that dissolved in ethanol (GED) and the component that was precipitated by ethanol (GEP). Further mouse experiments showed that both GED and GEP were effective, but GED (which was used at a dose of 4 g/L) was more effective than GEP (which was used at a lower dose of 1 g/L). The HCA levels in GED and GEP were similar, although less than in GE. HCA may be the effective component in GE.

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that G. cambogia can be used as a natural supplement to alleviate IR and hepatic lipid accumulation.

Keywords: Garcinia cambogia; hepatic lipid accumulation; hydroxycitric acid; insulin resistance; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; obesity.