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Evidence of anti-obesity effects of the pomegranate leaf extract in high-fat diet induced obese mice

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Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the anti-obesity effects of the pomegranate leaf extract (PLE) in a mouse model of high-fat diet induced obesity and hyperlipidemia.

Design:

For the anti-obesity experiment, male and female ICR mice were fed with a high-fat diet to induce obesity. When the weight of the high-fat diet group was 20% higher than the normal diet group, the animals were treated with 400 or 800 mg/kg/day of PLE for 5 weeks. Body weight and daily food intake were measured regularly during the experimental period. The various adipose pads were weighed and serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), glucose and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured after 5 weeks, treatment with PLE. In the fat absorption experiment, both the normal and obese mice were given 0.5 ml lipid emulsion and PLE at a dose of 800 mg/kg at the same time. Serial serum TG levels were measured at times 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 h after the treatment. TGs in fecal excretions were measured after the mice were orally given a lipid emulsion. Effects of PLE and its isolated compounds (ellagic acid and tannic acid) on pancreatic lipase activity were examined in vitro.

Results:

The PLE-treated groups showed a significant decrease in body weight, energy intake and various adipose pad weight percents and serum, TC, TG, glucose levels and TC/HDL-C ratio after 5 weeks treatment. Furthermore, PLE significantly attenuated the raising of the serum TG level and inhibited the intestinal fat absorption in mice given a fat emulsion orally. PLE showed a significant difference in decreasing the appetite of obese mice fed a high-fat diet, but showed no effect in mice fed a normal diet.

Conclusion:

PLE can inhibit the development of obesity and hyperlipidemia in high-fat diet induced obese mice. The effects appear to be partly mediated by inhibiting the pancreatic lipase activity and suppressing energy intake. PLE may be a novel appetite suppressant that only affects obesity owing to a high-fat diet.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (30572340).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR, China

    F Lei, X N Zhang, W Wang, D M Xing, W D Xie, H Su & L J Du

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  1. F Lei
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  2. X N Zhang
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  3. W Wang
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  4. D M Xing
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  5. W D Xie
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  6. H Su
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Correspondence to L J Du.

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Lei, F., Zhang, X., Wang, W. et al. Evidence of anti-obesity effects of the pomegranate leaf extract in high-fat diet induced obese mice. Int J Obes 31, 1023–1029 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803502

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803502

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