Anti‐obesity effect of Premature Citrus Extract in high‐fat diet induced obesity mice

Obesity is a worldwide health threat. Premature citrus extract (PCE) are known to contain high concentrations of flavonoids, polyphenols, and organic acids with health functions. The current study aimed to investigate the anti-obesity effect of PCE on a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mice.Mice were fed on chow or HFD with or without Orlistat (ORL), Hesperidin (HES), and PCE treatment for 10 weeks. Triglyceride (TG) content and total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) levels were determined by TG, HDL and LDL Assay Kit (BioAssay System). The phosphorylation levels of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl Co-A carboxylase (ACC); the expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein-2 (SREBP-2), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), Acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyltransferases (ACAT-1) and mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCP-3) were observed via western blot analysis.PCE and HES administered group significantly reduced the weights of body, liver, and white adipose tissue compared to the HFD group. Supplementation with PCE and HES significantly decreased the levels of TG, TC, and (LDL-c), and increased (HDL-c) levels in serum compared to the HFD group. Furthermore, treatment with PCE and HES significantly decreased the levels of TG and TC in the liver whereas increased the levels of TG and TC in feces compared to the HFD group. Western blot analysis revealed that PCE and HES increased the phosphorylation levels of both AMPK and ACC and significantly decreased the expression levels of SREBP-2, HMGCR, and ACAT-1 in the liver compared to the HFD group. In addition, both PCE and HES increased the expression level of UCP-3 in skeletal muscle tissue.Overall results suggest that PCE and HES exerts an anti-obesity effect via activation of AMPK and associated signaling cascades related to lipid metabolism in HFD-induced obesity mice.