Effects of Miao sour soup on hyperlipidemia in high‐fat diet‐induced obese rats via the AMPK signaling pathway

• Published in: Food science & nutrition Vol. 9; no. 8; pp. 4266 - 4277
• Main Authors: Yang, Hongmei, Xie, Jiao, Wang, Nanlan, Zhou, Qianqian, Lu, Yang, Qu, Zihan, Wang, Huiqun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.08.2021; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: AMPK signaling pathway; Blood; Body weight; Capsaicin; Cholesterol; Diet; Drug dosages; Fatty acids; Fatty-acid synthase; Fermentation; Fermented food; Food; High fat diet; Hyperlipidemia; Kinases; Lipid metabolism; Lipids; lipogenesis; Liver; Lycopene; Medical research; Metabolism; Obesity; Organic acids; Original Research; Protein expression; Protein kinase; Proteins; Signal transduction; Signaling; Sterol regulatory element-binding protein; Tomatoes; high‐fat diet; hyperlipidemia; lipogenesis; obesity; AMPK signaling pathway
• ISSN: 2048-7177; 2048-7177
• DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.2394

Hyperlipidemia is a common characteristic of obese animals. Identifying the factors involved in the regulation of dietary lipid metabolism is the most beneficial way to improve health. Miao sour soup (MSS) is a fermented food made from tomato and red pepper that contains lycopene, capsaicin, and organic acids. We conducted this study to investigate the regulatory functions and mechanisms of MSS on the blood lipid levels of high‐fat diet‐induced obese rats. In our preventive study, rats were fed normal diet (ND1), high‐fat diet (HFD1), HFD + 4 g/kg BW MSS (HFD + LS1), and HFD + 8 g/kg BW MSS (HFD + HS1). We found that MSS significantly reduced the body weight and fat accumulation and improved the blood lipid levels of rats. MSS significantly increased the expression of AMP‐activated protein kinase‐alpha (AMPKα), attenuated the expression of the adipogenic transcription factor sterol regulatory element‐binding protein‐1c (SREBP‐1c), and suppressed the expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl‐CoA carboxylase alpha (ACCα), the critical regulators of hepatic lipid metabolism. Additionally, we also conducted a treatment study, and we grouped rats to receive ND2, HFD2, PC2, HFD + LS2, and HFD + HS2 for another 10 weeks. MSS treatment reduced the body weight, fat deposition, and percentage of lipid droplets and regulated the plasma lipid content. MSS significantly increased the expression of AMPK and alleviated the expression of SREBP‐1c, ACC, and FAS. Taken together, these findings suggest that MSS prevents and treats hyperlipidemia in obese rats by regulating the AMPK signaling pathway. Obesity and its associated complications are the greatest public health problem worldwide. Presently, many researches are investigating food intervention to prevent and treat obesity and its complications. The fermented food product of Miao, Miao sour soup, can reduce lipid synthesis in the liver by activating the AMPK pathway, thus, ultimately preventing and treating obesity and hyperlipidemia in HFD‐induced rats.