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Acute effects of epigallocatechin gallate from green tea on oxidation and tissue incorporation of dietary lipids in mice fed a high-fat diet

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 735–743 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To examine in mice the acute effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea bioactive polyphenol on substrate metabolism with focus on the fate of dietary lipids.

Methods:

Male C57BL/6 mice were fed high-fat diets supplemented with EGCG extracted from green tea (TEAVIGO, DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, Basel, Switzerland) at different dosages up to 1% (w/w). Effects of EGCG on body composition (quantitative magnetic resonance), food intake and digestibility, oxidation and incorporation of exogenous lipids (stable isotope techniques: 13C-labeled palmitate and diet supplemented with corn oil as a natural source of 13C-enriched lipids) as well as gene expression (quantitative real-time PCR) in liver and intestinal mucosa were investigated.

Results:

Short-term supplementation (4–7 days) of dietary EGCG increased energy excretion, while food and energy intake were not affected. Fecal energy loss was accompanied by increased fat and nitrogen excretion. EGCG decreased post-prandial triglyceride and glycogen content in liver, increased oxidation of dietary lipids and decreased incorporation of dietary 13C-enriched lipids into fat tissues, liver and skeletal muscle. EGCG dose dependently reversed high-fat diet-induced effects on intestinal substrate transporters (CD36, FATP4 and SGLT1) and downregulated lipogenesis-related genes (ACC, FAS and SCD1) in liver in the post-prandial state.

Conclusions:

Anti-obesity effects of EGCG can be explained by a decreased food digestibility affecting substrate metabolism of intestinal mucosa and liver, leading to increased post-prandial fat oxidation and reduced incorporation of dietary lipids into tissues.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Antje Sylvester, Karin Schaller, Elke Thom, and Elisabeth Meyer for excellent technical assistance. SK is a member of EU COST action MITOFOOD (FA0602). This study was supported by DSM Nutritional Products, Human Nutrition and Health, Basel, Switzerland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Group of Energy Metabolism, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee, Nuthetal, Germany

    M Friedrich, K J Petzke & S Klaus

  2. Department NRD-CH, DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, R & D Human Nutrition and Health, Basel, Switzerland

    D Raederstorff & S Wolfram

Authors
  1. M Friedrich
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  4. S Wolfram
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Correspondence to S Klaus.

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Competing interests

Dr Raederstorff and Dr Wolfram are employees of DSM Nutritional Products Ltd, which also provided TEAVIGO and research funding to Dr Klaus. Dr Friedrich and Dr Petzke declare no potential conflict of interest.

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Friedrich, M., Petzke, K., Raederstorff, D. et al. Acute effects of epigallocatechin gallate from green tea on oxidation and tissue incorporation of dietary lipids in mice fed a high-fat diet. Int J Obes 36, 735–743 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.136

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