Abstract
Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid, has a wide range of pharmacological effects, yet its exact mechanism is unknown. In order to understand the anti-adipogenic effect of BBR, we studied the change of expression of several adipogenic enzymes of 3T3-L1 cells by BBR treatment. First, we measured the change of leptin and glycerol in the medium of 3T3-L1 cells treated with 1 µM, 5 µM and 10 µM concentrations of BBR. We also measured the changes of adipogenic and lipolytic factors of 3T3-L1. In 3T3-L1 cells, both leptin and adipogenic factors (SREBP-1c, C/EBP-α, PPAR-γ, fatty acid synthase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, acyl-CoA synthase and lipoprotein lipase) were reduced by BBR treatment. Glycerol secretion was increased, whereas expression of lipolytic enzymes (hormone-sensitive lipase and perilipin) mRNA was slightly decreased. Next, we measured the change of inflammation markers of 3T3-L1 cells by BBR treatment. This resulted in the down-regulation of mRNA level of inflammation markers such as TNF-α, IL-6, C- reactive protein and haptoglobin. Taken together, our data shows that BBR has both anti-adipogenic and anti-inflammatory effects on 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and the anti-adipogenic effect seems to be due to the down-regulation of adipogenic enzymes and transcription factors.
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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Choi, BH., Ahn, IS., Kim, YH. et al. Berberine reduces the expression of adipogenic enzymes and inflammatory molecules of 3T3-L1 adipocyte. Exp Mol Med 38, 599–605 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/emm.2006.71
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/emm.2006.71
Keywords
- adipocytes
- berberine
- inflammation
- lipoprotein lipase
- PPAR-γ
- tumor necrosis factor-α
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