title: Korean solar salts reduce obesity and alter its related markers in diet-induced obese mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this experiments was to show anti-obesity effects of Korean solar salt from different salt fields in diet-induced obese mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diet-induced obesity (DIO) was induced by a high-fat diet (HFD; 45% cal from fat) in C57BL/6J mice for eight weeks. The mice were fed with the designated diets (chow diet for Normal, HFD for Control, 0.47%-salt-mixed HFD for purified salt (PS), Guerande solar salt from France (SS-G), solar salt from Y salt field (SS-Y), solar salts from T salt field (SS-T) and S salt field (SS-S)) for another eight weeks. We checked body weight, food efficiency ratio (FER) and tissue weights (liver and epididymal adipose tissue (EAT)), and observed serum concentrations of triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), leptin and insulin. We also evaluated gene expressions of adipogenic / lipogenic mRNAs of C/EBPα, PPARγ and FAS and beta-oxidation-related factors (PPARα and CPT-1) in liver and EAT. The mineral composition of salt samples were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).
  
  
  RESULTS
  SS-T and SS-S significantly reduced body weight gain, FER, and weight of EAT compared to control and other samples (P< 0.05). SS-T and SS-S also significantly decreased serum levels of TG, TC, leptin and insulin (P< 0.05). SS-T and SS-S suppressed expressions of adipogenic / lipogenic mRNAs in liver and EAT, while promoting expression of beta-oxidation-related factors. The lowest sodium concentration was observed in SS-T (30.30 ± 0.59%), and the lowest sodium-to-potassium (Na/K) ratio was found in SS-S (17.81).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows that well-processed Korean solar salt may have anti-obesity effectsin vivo, probably owing to its differences in mineral composition and other components, presumably resulting from the manufacturing processes. Further research is needed into the mechanism and to explore optimal manufacturing processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Cha University, 335 Pan-gyo-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi 13488, Korea.
authors.forename: Jaehyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea.
authors.forename: Jia-Le
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Korea.
authors.forename: Eui-Seong
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Handong Global University, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37554, Korea.
authors.forename: Myoung-Sool
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Do
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Cha University, 335 Pan-gyo-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi 13488, Korea.; Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Kun-Young
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Salt; obese mouse; obesity