anti-adipogenic effects of eryngium billardieri extract during 3t3-l1 adipocyte differentiation

Background & objective: obesity is a major public health problem whose prevalence has constantly increased worldwide. obesity is a risk factor for several diseases such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, all of which reduce the quality of life and life expectancy. this study investigated anti-adipogenic effects of eryngium billardierei (ery) extract. materials & methods: the nontoxic concentration of ery extract was estimated via the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl-2h-tetrazoliu bromide (mtt) assay. the differentiation of mouse-derived 3t3-l1 preadipocytes into mature adipocytes was induced in the presence or absence of ery extract. then, the accumulation of lipid droplets was identified by oil red o staining. triacylglycerol level and glycerol-3phosphate dehydrogenase (gpdh) activity were also measured. results: the mtt assay showed that 3 mg/ml of the ery extract can be a nontoxic dose for other analyses. oil red o staining demonstrated a reduction of lipid droplets in the extract-treated adipocyte 3t3-l1 compared to the non-treated group. a significant decrease of triacylglycerol level in the treated 3t3-l1 adipocyte (0.32±0.03 mgtg/mg protein) compared with the nontreated group (0.78±0.05 mgtg/mg protein) (p<0.01), and a significant decrease of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpdh) activity in the 3t3-l1adipocyte treated (15.3±2.1 u/ml) compared to the non-treated group (30.2±3.9 u/ml) (p<0.05) confirmed the inhibitory action of ery extract on adipocyte differentiation. conclusion: ery extract, as a safe herbal extract, has anti-adipogenic activity and merits more investigation as a candidate for developing an anti-obesity drug or supplement.