Goto Tsuyoshi

Dietary capsaicin reduces obesity-induced insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in obese mice fed a high-fat diet.

Obesity‐induced inflammation contributes to the development of obesity‐related metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease. In this study, we investigated whether dietary capsaicin can reduce obesity‐induced inflammation and metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. Male C57BL/6 obese mice fed a high‐fat diet for 10 weeks received a supplement of 0.015% capsaicin for a further 10 weeks and were compared with unsupplemented controls. Glucose intolerance was estimated by glucose tolerance tests. Transcripts of adipocytokine genes and the corresponding proteins were measured by reverse transcription‐PCR and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, and macrophage numbers were determined by flow cytometric analysis. Transient receptor potential vanilloid type‐1 (TRPV‐1), peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor (PPAR)‐α, and PPARγ coactivator‐1α (PGC‐1α) mRNAs were also measured by RT‐PCR, and PPARα luciferase assays were performed. Dietary capsaicin lowered fasting glucose, insulin, leptin levels, and markedly reduced the impairment of glucose tolerance in obese mice. Levels of tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNFα), monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1), and interleukin (IL)‐6 mRNAs and proteins in adipose tissue and liver decreased markedly, as did macrophage infiltration, hepatic triglycerides, and TRPV‐1 expression in adipose tissue. At the same time, the mRNA/protein of adiponectin in the adipose tissue and PPARα/PGC‐1α mRNA in the liver increased. Moreover, luciferase assays revealed that capsaicin is capable of binding PPARα. Our data suggest that dietary capsaicin may reduce obesity‐induced glucose intolerance by not only suppressing inflammatory responses but also enhancing fatty acid oxidation in adipose tissue and/or liver, both of which are important peripheral tissues affecting insulin resistance. The effects of capsaicin in adipose tissue and liver are related to its dual action on PPARα and TRPV‐1 expression/activation.

Dietary Capsaicin Attenuates Metabolic Dysregulation in Genetically Obese Diabetic Mice

Metabolic dysregulation (e.g., hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperlipidemia, etc.) is a hallmark of obesity-related diseases such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and fatty liver disease. In this study, we assessed whether dietary capsaicin attenuated the metabolic dysregulation in genetically obese diabetic KKAy mice, which have severe diabetic phenotypes. Male KKAy mice fed a high-fat diet for 2 weeks received a 0.015% capsaicin supplement for a further 3 weeks and were compared with nonsupplemented controls. Dietary capsaicin markedly decreased fasting glucose/insulin and triglyceride levels in the plasma and/or liver, as well as expression of inflammatory adipocytokine genes (e.g., monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and interleukin-6) and macrophage infiltration. At the same time expression of the adiponectin gene/protein and its receptor, AdipoR2, increased in adipose tissue and/or plasma, accompanied by increased activation of hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase, a marker of fatty acid oxidation. These findings suggest that dietary capsaicin reduces metabolic dysregulation in obese/diabetic KKAy mice by enhancing expression of adiponectin and its receptor. Capsaicin may be useful as a dietary factor for reducing obesity-related metabolic dysregulation.

Diet enriched with korean pine nut oil improves mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue in diet-induced obesity.

In this study, we investigated effects of pine nut oil (PNO) on high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obesity and metabolic dysfunction in skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue (BAT). Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a HFD with 15% energy from lard and 30% energy from either soybean oil (SBO-HFD) or PNO (PNO-HFD) for 12 weeks. The PNO-HFD resulted in less weight gain and intramuscular lipid accumulation than the SBO-HFD and was accompanied by upregulation of transcripts and proteins related to oxidative metabolism and phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), as well as molecules selectively expressed in type I and type IIa muscle fibers. In addition, uncoupling protein-1 was upregulated in BAT. These beneficial metabolic effects were partly associated with the dual ligand activity of pinolenic acid, which is abundant in PNO, for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors α and δ. Our findings suggest that PNO may have potential as a dietary supplement for counteracting obesity and metabolic dysregulation.