title: Ferulic acid improves lipid and glucose homeostasis in high-fat diet-induced obese mice.
abstract: Ferulic acid (FA) is a plant phenolic acid that has several pharmacological effects including antihyperglycaemic activity. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of FA on glucose and lipid metabolism in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) mice were fed a HFD (45 kcal% fat) for 16 weeks. At the ninth week of induction, the obese mice were orally administered with daily FA doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg for the next eight weeks. The results show that FA significantly reduced the elevated blood glucose and serum leptin levels, lowered the insulin resistance, and increased the serum adiponectin level. Moreover, serum lipid level, and liver cholesterol and triglyceride accumulations were also reduced. The histological examination showed clear evidence of a decrease in the lipid droplets in liver tissues and smaller size of fat cells in the adipose tissue in the obese mice treated with FA. Interestingly, FA reduced the expression of hepatic lipogenic genes such as sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1c), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC). It could also up-regulate hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a (CPT1a) gene and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) proteins. The FA treatment was also found to suppress the protein expressions of hepatic gluconeogenic enzymes, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase). In conclusion, the findings of this study demonstrate that FA improves the glucose and lipid homeostasis in HFD-induced obese mice probably via modulating the expression of lipogenic and gluconeogenic genes in liver tissues.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathum Thani, Thailand.
authors.forename: Jarinyaporn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Naowaboot
authors.affiliation: Division of Physiology, Department of Preclinical Science, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathum Thani, Thailand.
authors.forename: Pritsana
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piyabhan
authors.affiliation: Graduate Academy, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathum Thani, Thailand.
authors.forename: Narongsuk
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Munkong
authors.affiliation: Graduate Academy, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathum Thani, Thailand.
authors.forename: Wason
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Parklak
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
authors.forename: Patchareewan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pannangpetch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003373:Coumaric Acids / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000187:drug effects*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D050155:Lipogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008820:Mice, Obese; D009765:Obesity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003373:Coumaric Acids; C004999:ferulic acid; D005947:Glucose
keywords: ferulic acid; gluconeogenesis; insulin resistance; lipogenesis; obesity