Platycodon grandiflorus Root Extract Attenuates Body Fat Mass, Hepatic Steatosis and Insulin Resistance through the Interplay between the Liver and Adipose Tissue

• Published in: Nutrients 2016-09, Vol.8 (9), p.532
• Main Authors: Kim, Ye Jin, Choi, Ji-Young, Ryu, Ri, Lee, Jeonghyeon, Cho, Su-Jung, Kwon, Eun-Young, Lee, Mi-Kyung, Liu, Kwang-Hyeon, Rina, Yu, Sung, Mi-Kyung, Choi, Myung-Sook
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipokines - blood; Adipose Tissue, Brown - drug effects; Adipose Tissue, Brown - metabolism; Adipose Tissue, Brown - physiopathology; Adipose Tissue, White - drug effects; Adipose Tissue, White - metabolism; Adipose Tissue, White - physiopathology; Adiposity - drug effects; Adiposity - genetics; Animals; Anti-Obesity Agents - isolation & purification; Anti-Obesity Agents - pharmacology; Body fat; Diabetes; Diet; Diet, High-Fat; Disease Models, Animal; energy expenditure; Energy Metabolism - drug effects; Ethanol; Fatty acids; Food science; free fatty acid oxidation; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Genomics; Glucose; Hyperlipidemia; Hypoglycemic Agents - isolation & purification; Hypoglycemic Agents - pharmacology; Insulin resistance; Insulin Resistance - genetics; Lipids; Lipids - blood; Lipogenesis - drug effects; Liver; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Liver - physiopathology; Male; Metabolism; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - blood; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - genetics; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - physiopathology; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - prevention & control; Nutrition research; Obesity; Obesity - blood; Obesity - genetics; Obesity - physiopathology; Obesity - prevention & control; Oxidation; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts - isolation & purification; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Roots - chemistry; Plants, Medicinal; Platycodon - chemistry; Platycodon grandiflorus root; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; thermogenesis; Time Factors; Tuberculosis; Weight Gain - drug effects
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu8090532

The Platycodon grandiflorus root, a Korean medicinal food, is well known to have beneficial effects on obesity and diabetes. In this study, we demonstrated the metabolic effects of P. grandiflorus root ethanol extract (PGE), which is rich in platycodins, on diet-induced obesity. C57BL/6J mice (four-week-old males) were fed a normal diet (16.58% of kilocalories from fat), high-fat diet (HFD, 60% of kilocalories from fat), and HFD supplemented with 5% (w/w) PGE. In the HFD-fed mice, PGE markedly suppressed the body weight gain and white fat mass to normal control level, with simultaneous increase in the expression of thermogenic genes (such as SIRT1, PPARα, PGC1α, and UCP1), that accompanied changes in fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and energy expenditure. In addition, PGE improved insulin sensitivity through activation of the PPARγ expression, which upregulates adiponectin while decreasing leptin gene expression in adipocytes. Furthermore, PGE improved hepatic steatosis by suppressing hepatic lipogenesis while increasing expression of FAO-associated genes such as PGC1α. PGE normalized body fat and body weight, which is likely associated with the increased energy expenditure and thermogenic gene expression. PGE can protect from HFD-induced insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis by controlling lipid and glucose metabolism.