ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine the antiobesity effects of Monascus pilosus-fermented black soybean (F-BS) in C57BL/6 mice with high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. F-BS (oral, 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg per body weight, twice per day) ameliorated obesity by reducing body and liver weight increases, and regulating blood glucose and cholesterol levels in C57BL/6 mice fed a control or HFD with oral administration of F-BS for 12 weeks. F-BS suppressed the growth of epididymal, retroperitoneal, and perirenal fat pads by preventing increases in the adipocyte size. Moreover, the levels of blood glucose, total cholesterol, and leptin were significantly lowered by F-BS administration in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicated that F-BS is a beneficial food supplement for preventing obesity, controlling blood glucose, and lowering cholesterol. Future research strategies should address the mechanisms that selectively regulate obesity, including hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia.
Subject(s)
Adipose Tissue/drug effects , Diet, High-Fat/adverse effects , Fermentation , Glycine max , Monascus/metabolism , Obesity/diet therapy , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Adipocytes/drug effects , Adipose Tissue/cytology , Animals , Anti-Obesity Agents , Blood Glucose/metabolism , Cholesterol/blood , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Hypoglycemic Agents/pharmacology , Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use , Hypolipidemic Agents/pharmacology , Hypolipidemic Agents/therapeutic use , Leptin/blood , Liver/drug effects , Male , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Obesity/etiology , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Soy Foods , Weight Gain/drug effectsABSTRACT
An analogue of an antitumor bicyclic hexapeptide RA-VII was prepared, in which the Ala-2 and Tyr-3 residues of RA-VII were replaced by a cycloisodityrosine unit. In the crystalline state, the peptide backbone structures and the side-chain conformations at Tyr-3, Tyr-5, and Tyr-6 of this analogue and of RA-II were very similar. This analogue, however, showed much weaker cytotoxicity against P-388 leukemia cells than parent RA-VII.
Subject(s)
Peptides, Cyclic/chemical synthesis , Peptides, Cyclic/pharmacology , Chemistry, Pharmaceutical/methods , Crystallography, X-Ray/methods , Drug Design , Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor/methods , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Models, Chemical , Molecular Conformation , Peptides/chemistry , Peptides, Cyclic/chemistry , Plant Extracts/metabolism , Rubia/metabolism , Tyrosine/chemistryABSTRACT
Two new phenylpropanoid glycosides, scrophulosides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the rhizomes of Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora (Scrophulariaceae), along with two known compounds, androsin (3) and picroside I. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of both chemical and spectroscopic data.