Piceatannol Exerts Anti-Obesity Effects in C57BL/6 Mice through Modulating Adipogenic Proteins and Gut Microbiota

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 11; p. 1419
• Main Authors: Tung, Yen-Chen, Lin, Yu-Hsuan, Chen, Hong-Jhang, Chou, Shen-Chieh, Cheng, An-Chin, Kalyanam, Nagabhushanam, Ho, Chi-Tang, Pan, Min-Hsiung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 25.10.2016; MDPI
• Subjects: Adenosine; Adipocytes; Adipogenesis - drug effects; AMPK; Animals; Anti-Obesity Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Obesity Agents - pharmacology; Body fat; Body Weight - drug effects; C57BL/6; Cholesterol - blood; Diet, High-Fat - adverse effects; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Eating - drug effects; Energy; Enzymes; Fatty acids; Firmicutes; Food; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Glucose; gut microbiota; high-fat diet; Homeostasis; Investigations; Kinases; Lactobacillus; Lipids; Lipoproteins, HDL - blood; Lipoproteins, LDL - blood; Liver; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microbiota; Nutrition research; Obesity; Obesity - chemically induced; Obesity - drug therapy; Obesity - metabolism; Organ Size - drug effects; Oxidation; Phosphorylation; piceatannol; Proteins; Stilbenes - administration & dosage; Stilbenes - pharmacology; Transcription factors; United States > US; China; Taiwan; AMPK; piceatannol; C57BL/6; gut microbiota; obesity; high-fat diet
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules21111419

Obesity is a global health concern. Piceatannol (Pic), an analog of resveratrol (Res), has many reported biological activities. In this study, we investigated the anti-obesity effect of Pic in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese animal model. The results showed that Pic significantly reduced mouse body weight in a dose-dependent manner without affecting food intake. Serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, and blood glucose (GLU) were significantly lowered in Pic-treated groups. Pic significantly decreased the weight of liver, spleen, perigonadal and retroperitoneal fat compared with the HFD group. Pic significantly reduced the adipocyte cell size of perigonadal fat and decreased the weight of liver. Pic-treated mice showed higher phosphorylated adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) and phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase (pACC) protein levels and decreased protein levels of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein C/EBPα, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor PPARγ and fatty acid synthase (FAS), resulting in decreased lipid accumulation in adipocytes and the liver. Pic altered the composition of the gut microbiota by increasing Firmicutes and and decreasing Bacteroidetes compared with the HFD group. Collectively, these results suggest that Pic may be a candidate for obesity treatment.