Background: Grape seed extracts (GSE) are known to present health benefits such as antioxidative and anti-obesity effects in animal models. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the specially manufactured GSE, catechin-rich GSE (CGSE), can protect against obesity induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) and to address the mechanism underlying this effect.
Methods: The componential analysis of CGSE was performed using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Oxygen consumption and the respiratory quotient were determined using 500 mg/kg CGSE administered orally for 3 days in 14- to 15-week-old male C57BL/6J mice. Nine-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were supplemented with 0.5 or 1% CGSE in a HFD for 12 weeks, and their body weight and food intake were monitored. Blood and tissue samples were collected and analyzed.
Results: The main polyphenol components of CGSE were catechin and epicatechin. CGSE supplementation in the HFD-induced obesity model chronically suppressed the increase in body weight and the weight of fat pads. Furthermore, CGSE improved metabolic parameter abnormalities and upregulated the fatty acid oxidation-related genes in the liver.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that CGSE contains monomeric catechins in high concentrations and ameliorates HFD-induced obesity in C57BL/6J mice.
Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.