Inhibitory effect of evodiamine alone and in combination with rosiglitazone on in vitro adipocyte differentiation and in vivo obesity related to diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Evodiamine (evo) has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and anticancer effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of evo alone and in combination with rosiglitazone (rosi) on in vitro adipocyte differentiation and in vivo obesity related to diabetes. METHODS: Adipocyte differentiation was investigated in vitro using 3T3-L1 and C3H10T1/2 cells. To determine the degree of differentiation, Oil Red O staining and reverse transcription-PCR were carried out. Four groups of db/db mice were treated intraperitoneally once per day with vehicle, evo, rosi and evo+rosi. The mice were killed after 14 days and the blood, liver and adipose tissue were analyzed. RESULTS: The presence of evo or evo combined with rosi during adipogenic induction has been shown to inhibit adipocyte differentiation to a significant degree, particularly at the commitment and early induction stages. The evo and evo+rosi groups of db/db mice evidenced significant reductions in body weight gain. The ratio of epididymal white adipocyte tissue weight to body weight of the evo group was also significantly reduced. It is important to note that in the evo+rosi treatment, blood glucose levels were reduced to a degree similar to that of the rosi group, and plasma insulin levels were reduced significantly better than that of rosi group. Furthermore, hepatic lesions associated with fat and glycogen deposition were morphologically improved in the evo and evo+rosi groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that evo exerts an inhibitory effect on in vitro adipocyte differentiation and in vivo obesity, and also an improvement effect on insulin resistance. These desirable effects of evo were noted even in the presence of rosi. These results indicate that evo improves the undesirable effects of rosi, including adipogenesis, body weight gain and hepatotoxicity, while preserving its desirable blood-glucose-lowering effect.

The development of a novel cooking method (alternate roasting with its own fat) for chicken to improve nutritional value.

The goal of this study was to develop a novel cooking method for fried meat products, to improve their nutritional value, and to provide superior taste and texture. We used the fat derived from each individual meat source during radiant heat roasting (alternate roasting with its own fat: AROF) without deep-fat frying (DFF), first without any air flow and subsequently with an exposure to air flow. We then compared these roasted chicken samples to breaded fried chicken samples that were deep-fat fried in 3 types of fat: soybean oil (SB), partially hydrogenated soybean oil (PSB), and lard. The final fat contents of both the skin and lean parts of the AROF samples of chicken were less than half of those of the DFF groups. The total trans-fatty acids (TFA) contents were significantly lower in the AROF samples compared to the DFF samples. The cholesterol levels of the samples did not show any significant differences among the tested groups, except for the sample fried in lard, which was significantly higher. Moreover, the sensory evaluation results showed that the crispy texture of the AROF samples was not significantly different from that of the DFF samples (P < 0.05); the AROF samples had higher scores for the characteristic fried flavor and for overall acceptability (P < 0.05). This study shows the potential value of products prepared by AROF, which can successfully replace DFF methods used for chicken and other meat products and improve their nutritional value.

Utilization of oil by-product from the purification process of conjugated linoleic Acid as feeding supplements for the accumulation of conjugated linoleic acid in the egg yolk.

This study was performed to examine an efficient way to use oil by-product which is obtained during the purification process of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) from safflower oil. The CLA by-product (CBP) was fed to the laying hens to accumulate CLA in the egg yolk. Egg yolk samples from 3 different dietary groups were analyzed: control; CBP, 2%; and CLA-80 (which contained 80% free form of CLA), 2%. Fatty acids from the yolk were analyzed by gas chromatography, and the parameters of egg quality were determined. During the feeding trial, there was little alteration in the egg quality and egg production of the tested groups. The CLA contents in the test group with CBP, which contain CLA as glyceride form, significantly increased in the first week of feeding and had the highest level among the tested groups throughout the feeding trials, whereas the CLA group showed an increase in CLA contents from the third week. Moreover, the contents of total CLA isomers in CLA-80 and CBP oils were decreased by 12.92 and 0.51% after heat treatment in 48 h, and the contents of linoleic acid (LA) isomer in LA-80 (which contained 80% free form of LA) and LA by-product (LBP) oils were decreased by 19.63 and 5.78%, respectively. It was confirmed that a major form of fats in CBP was mainly esterified forms, whereas the fats in CLA-80 and LA-80 were composed of free fatty acids. There was no significant difference in the egg quality and production among the tested groups. It is meaningful that the oil by-product could be utilized as a source for functional foods of animal origin without influencing egg quality and production.

Effect of dietary supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid, with oleic, linoleic, or linolenic acid, on egg quality characteristics and fat accumulation in the egg yolk.

The effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) with other fatty acids on the fatty acid composition of egg yolk and on egg quality characteristics were studied in 5 groups: 1) CLA 0% (control), 2) CLA 2%, 3) CLA 2%+oleic acid (OA) 2% (CLA+OA), 4) CLA 2%+linoleic acid (LA) 2% (CLA+LA), and 5) CLA 2%+alpha-linolenic acid (LNA) 2% (CLA+LNA). Some parameters of egg quality such as shell thickness, shell strength, yolk color, yolk index, egg diameter, and Haugh units were aggravated when CLA was fed alone, but the quality was improved when CLA was combined with some other fatty acids. The egg production rate, which was decreased by feeding CLA alone, was improved by co-supplementation with LA or OA. An increase in CLA content was observed in all the dietary groups fed CLA for 2 wk. Feeding hens with CLA+LNA led to a linear increase in CLA content in the egg yolk after the fourth week of the feeding trial. Egg yolks from hens given CLA had considerably higher amounts of saturated fatty acids and lower amounts of monounsaturated fatty acids than egg yolks from the control group. The pattern of change in CLA concentration during the feeding trial was similar to the level of C18:0, which was inversely correlated with the level of C18:1. The unsaturated fatty acid co-supplementation strategy applied in this study offers insight into the mechanism of CLA accumulation in the egg yolk without apparent adverse effects on egg quality and egg production.

Structure-activity relationship study of asiatic acid derivatives against beta amyloid (A beta)-induced neurotoxicity.

8 Semi-synthetic derivatives of asiatic acid were prepared and their protective effect against A beta-induced neurotoxicity was evaluated. Among them, asiatic acid (2), and 4, 16 showed 97, 92 and 87% of protective effect, respectively.