Inula Japonica Thunb. Flower Ethanol Extract Improves Obesity and Exercise Endurance in Mice Fed A High-Fat Diet

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 17
• Main Authors: Park, So-Hyun, Lee, Da-Hye, Kim, Min Jung, Ahn, Jiyun, Jang, Young-Jin, Ha, Tae-Youl, Jung, Chang Hwa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.12.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Adipogenesis; Adipogenesis - drug effects; Animals; Anti-Obesity Agents - pharmacology; Apoptosis; Asteraceae; Atrophy; Diet, High-Fat - adverse effects; Endurance capacity; Ethanol; Ethanol - pharmacology; Exercise; exercise endurance; Fatigue tests; Flowers; Food; Grip strength; High fat diet; Immunoglobulins; Insulin; Inula japonica; Lipogenesis; Lipogenesis - drug effects; Male; Medical research; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; mRNA; Muscles; Musculoskeletal system; myogenesis; Obesity; Obesity - drug therapy; Obesity - etiology; Obesity - physiopathology; Penicillin; Phosphatase; Physical Endurance - drug effects; Physical fitness; Phytotherapy - methods; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteins; Signal transduction; Skeletal muscle; Treadmills; Weight control; Weight Gain - drug effects; Asia; United States > US; China; Japan; Inula japonica; lipogenesis; adipogenesis; exercise endurance; myogenesis; obesity
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu11010017

Thunb. (Asteraceae) is a flowering plant that grows mainly in Korea, Japan, and China and its flower extract has diverse biological effects such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities. However, the effects on obesity and enhancement of endurance capacity have not been explored yet. This study aims to reveal the effects of flower ethanol extract (IJE) on obesity and endurance capacity in high-fat diet (HFD) fed C57BL/6J mice and the mechanism. IJE inhibited lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes in vitro. Also, IJE-fed mice showed reduced body weight gain, hepatic lipid, and body fat mass, and increased muscle weight. IJE reduced lipid accumulation in the liver and adipose tissue by decreasing lipogenic and adipogenic gene expression. Additionally, consumption of low-dose IJE significantly enhanced endurance capacity via increasing AMP-activated protein kinase activity and mRNA levels of Myh7 and Myh2. Luteolin and 1β-hydroxyalantolactone (1β-HA), compounds of IJE, are involved in anti-adipogenesis in the 3T3-L cells and only luteolin increased the protein levels of MHC during C2C12 myoblast differentiation. Collectively, our results suggest that consumption of IJE not only helps to prevent obesity but also enhances endurance capacity reduced by HFD.