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Unraveling the adipocyte inflammomodulatory pathways activated by North American ginseng

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 350–356 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

BACKGROUND:

North American (NA) ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a popular natural health product (NHP) that has been demonstrated to regulate immune function, inflammatory processes and response to stress and fatigue. Recent evidence suggests that various extracts of NA ginseng may have different bioactivities because of distinct profiles of ginsenosides and polysaccharides. To date, the bioactive role of ginseng on adipocytes remains relatively unexplored.

OBJECTIVE:

The goal of this work was to study the extract-specific bioactivity of NA ginseng on differentiated preadipocyte gene expression and adipocytokine secretion.

METHODS:

In vitro differentiated 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were treated with 25 and 50 μg ml−1 of either crude ethanol (EtOH) or aqueous (AQ) NA ginseng extracts, or polysaccharide and ginsenoside extracts isolated from the AQ extract. Global gene expression was studied with microarrays and the resulting data were analyzed with functional pathway analysis. Adipocytokine secretion was also measured in media.

RESULTS:

Pathway analysis indicated that the AQ extract, and in particular the polysaccharide extract, triggered a global inflammomodulatory response in differentiated preadipocytes. Specifically, the expression of Il-6 (interleukin 6), Ccl5 (chemokine (C–C motif) ligand 5), Nfκb (nuclear factor-kappaB) and Tnfα (tumor necrosis factor alpha) was increased. These effects were also reflected at the protein level through the increased secretion of IL-6 and CCL5. No effect was seen with the EtOH extract or ginsenoside extract. Using a specific toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) inhibitor reduced the upregulation of inflammatory gene expression, indicating the relevance of this pathway for the signaling capacity of NA ginseng polysaccharides.

CONCLUSION:

This work emphasizes the distinct bioactivities of different ginseng extracts on differentiated preadipocyte signaling pathways, and highlights the importance of TLR4 for mediating the inflammomodulatory role of ginseng polysaccharides.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Ontario Ginseng Research and Innovation Consortium (OGIRC), the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation with matching funds from the Ontario Research Fund (CFI/ORF). Special thanks to Kaitlin Roke for her contributions to the BioPlex protein secretion analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    S A F Wilson, C Stryjecki, A De Boer & D M Mutch

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    M H T Wong

  3. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology - Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

    E M K Lui

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  1. S A F Wilson
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  2. M H T Wong
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  5. E M K Lui
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  6. D M Mutch
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Correspondence to D M Mutch.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on International Journal of Obesity website

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Wilson, S., Wong, M., Stryjecki, C. et al. Unraveling the adipocyte inflammomodulatory pathways activated by North American ginseng. Int J Obes 37, 350–356 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.50

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