title: The flavan-3-ol fraction of cocoa powder suppressed changes associated with early-stage metabolic syndrome in high-fat diet-fed rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous epidemiological studies have suggested that ingestion of chocolate reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. In the present study, we examined the effects of flavan-3-ols derived from cocoa on blood pressure, lipolysis, and thermogenesis in rats fed a high-fat diet and that showed early signs of metabolic syndrome.
  
  
  METHODS
  The rats were divided into three groups, and fed either normal diet (normal), 60% fat high-fat diet (HFD), or HFD containing 0.2% flavan-3-ols (HFD-flavan) for 4 weeks. At the end of the feeding period, blood pressure was measured and animals were sacrificed under anesthesia. Lipolysis and thermogenesis-related protein levels were measured in several tissues by Western blotting, and mitochondrial DNA copy number was measured by RT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean blood pressure and epididymal adipose tissue weight of HFD-flavan were significantly lower compared with those of HFD. Uncoupling protein (UCP)1 in brown adipose tissue and UCP3 in gastrocnemius of HFD-flavan were significantly increased compared with those of HFD group. Carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) 2 levels in liver and medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) levels in gastrocnemius and liver were significantly increased by the supplementation of flavan-3-ols.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to having hypotensive effects, flavan-3-ols enhance thermogenesis and lipolysis and consequently reduce white adipose tissue weight gain in response to high-fat diet feeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: nao-osa@sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Osakabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: mf12054@sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Junpei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: mf13033@sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-science and Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: shibatam@sic.shibaura-it.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibata
mesh_terms: D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D052436:Adipose Tissue, White / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002099:Cacao / Q000737:chemistry*; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000378:metabolism; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D008066:Lipolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D022722:Thermogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005419:Flavonoids; D007473:Ion Channels; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; C000604373:Ucp1 protein, rat; C000604394:Ucp3 protein, rat; D000071256:Uncoupling Protein 1; D000071247:Uncoupling Protein 3; C404987:flavan-3-ol; D042964:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase; D002334:Carnitine O-Palmitoyltransferase
keywords: Flavan-3-ols; Lipolysis; Thermogenesis; Uncoupling proteins