Background: Obesity is a major risk factor for metabolic syndrome and a serious health concern worldwide. Various strategies exist to treat and prevent obesity, including dietary approaches using bioactive ingredients from natural sources.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the anti-obesity effect of whole-plant Allium macrostemon (also called as long-stamen chive) extract (AME) as a potential new functional food.
Design: C57BL/6N mice were divided into three groups and fed either a control diet (CD), high-fat diet (HFD), or HFD with AME treatment (200 mg/kg BW daily) for 9 weeks. The mice in the CD and HFD groups were treated with vehicle control.
Results: AME supplementation reduced HFD-induced body weight gain, fat mass, and adipocyte size. AME suppressed peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ and fatty acid synthase mRNA expression, indicating reduced adipogenesis and lipogenesis in adipose tissue. In addition, AME lowered inflammation in adipose tissue, as demonstrated by the lower number of crown-like structures, mRNA, and/or protein expression of macrophage filtration markers, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines, including F4/80 and IL-6. Endoplasmic reticulum stress was also alleviated by AME administration in adipose tissue. Several phenolic acids known to have anti-obesity effects, including ellagic acid, protocatechuic acid, and catechin, have been identified in AME.
Conclusion: By suppressing adipose tissue expansion and inflammation, AME is a potential functional food for the prevention and/or treatment of obesity and its complications.
Keywords: Allium macrostemon extract; adipose tissue; endoplasmic reticulum stress; inflammation; obesity.
© 2023 Juhae Kim et al.