The isoflavone daidzein reduces food intake, weight gain and reduces fat content in the livers of animals on an obesity-generating diet. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Reduction of body weight, liver steatosis and SCD1 expression by pharmacologic administration of the isoflavone daidzein in diet-induced obesity.
Br J Pharmacol. 2011 May 10. Epub 2011 May 10. PMID: 21557739
Laboratorio de Medicina Regenerativa, Hospital Carlos Haya, Fundación IMABIS, Avda. Carlos Haya 82, Pabellón de Gobierno, 29010, Málaga, Spain. Departamento de Biología Celular, Genética y Fisiología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain. Institute of Medical Chemistry, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid 28006,Spain. Laboratorio de Bioquímica, Hospital Carlos Haya, Avda. Carlos Haya 82, Pabellón B, 29010, Málaga, Spain.
Background and purpose. The lack of safe and effective approved drugs against obesity has raised a great interest on natural products that may serve as alternative therapies. From this perspective we have addressed the analysis of the effects of daidzein, one of the main soy isoflavones, on diet induced obesity in rats. Experimental approach. Rats made obese after exposure to a very (60%) high fat content diet were treated with Daidzein (50 mg/kg) for 14 days. The dose was selected on the basis of the acute effects of this isoflavone on a feeding test. After 14 days, animals were sacrificed and plasma, white and brown adipose tissues, muscle and liver studied for the levels and expression of metabolites, proteins and genes relevant for lipid metabolism. Key results. Acute daidzein dose-dependently reduced food intake. Chronic treatment reduced weight gain and reduced fat content in the liver. This was associated with high leptin levels and low adiponectin contents in plasma. While skeletal muscle was weakly affected by treatment, both adipose tissue and liver displayed marked changes induced by daidzein that affect transcription factors and lipogenic enzymes, specially stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase-1, a pivotal enzyme in obesity. Protein expression of the uncoupling protein 1, an important enzyme involved in thermogenesis, was increased in brown adipose tissue after daidzein treatment. Conclusions and implications. These results give support to the use of isoflavones in diet induced obesity, especially when hepatic steatosis is present, opening a new field of use for these natural products.