Two polyphenol-rich Brazilian fruit extracts protect from diet-induced obesity and hepatic steatosis in mice

Food Funct. 2020 Oct 21;11(10):8800-8810. doi: 10.1039/d0fo01912g.

Abstract

Consumption of polyphenol-rich food is associated with better metabolic health. Tucum-do-Pantanal (Bactris setosa Mart) and taruma-do-cerrado (Vitex cymosa Bertero ex Spreng) are underexploited native Brazilian fruits with an important source of phytochemicals. In this study, we assessed the effects of 100 mg kg-1 tucum (TPE) and taruma (TCE) extracts on diet-induced obesity (DIO) C57BL/6J mice. After 8 weeks of daily treatment, TPE and TCE were found to significantly prevented the diet-induced body weight gain and fully protected against hepatic steatosis associated with a tendency to stimulate hepatic AMPK phosphorylation. TPE reduced visceral obesity and improved glucose metabolism as revealed by an improvement of the insulin tolerance test, a reduction in the insulin fasting level, and a decreased glucose-induced hyperinsulinemia during an oral glucose tolerance test. TPE and TCE showed promising effects on the treatment of obesity and NAFLD, furthermore, TPE on insulin resistance.

MeSH terms

  • AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases
  • Animals
  • Arecaceae / chemistry*
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism
  • Brazil
  • Diet / adverse effects
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fasting / blood
  • Fruit / chemistry*
  • Insulin / blood
  • Insulin Resistance / physiology
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / etiology
  • Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / prevention & control*
  • Obesity / etiology
  • Obesity / prevention & control*
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Polyphenols / pharmacology*
  • Protein Kinases / metabolism
  • Vitex / chemistry*
  • Weight Gain / drug effects

Substances

  • Blood Glucose
  • Insulin
  • Plant Extracts
  • Polyphenols
  • Protein Kinases
  • AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases