Effect and Mechanism of Active Component of Isatidis Radix in Obesity Prevention

OBJECTIVE To investigate the preventing obesity effect of active component of Isatidis Radix (ACIR) and its mechanism. METHODS Body weight, food intake, fat weight, fat cell morphology, liver weight and lipids of obese mice induced by a high-fat diet were chosen as the indexes to observe the preventing obesity effect of different dosages of ACIR. The swimming time of loaded mice under the action of drugs was also observed. 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were cultured to investigate the effect of ACIR on proliferation, differentiation and lipid droplet formation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. RESULTS ACIR could significantly decrease the body weight, fat index and the weight of the liver, at the same time reduce lipocyte size, improve food intake in mice, extend the swimming time of mice and serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein decreased (LDL), but high density lipoprotein (HDL) did not change; it could also inhibit the proliferation, differentiation and lipid droplet formation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. CONCLUSION ACIR has protective effect on preventing obesity, and can reduce blood lipids, which might be related to inhibiting the proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes.