POCU1b reverses diabesity induced in rats fed a high-fat diet

Diabesity, obesity-dependent diabetes, has emerged as a major public health problem that is increasing in frequency. This study investigated the effects of POCU1b, an herbal medicine, in rats previously fed a high-fat diet for 120 days to induce obesity and related diabetes. High-fat fed rats became obese and developed hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, indicating that they were insulin resistant. A high-fat diet with or without 1% POCU1b were then administrated orally for 7 weeks. The treatment of POCU1b significantly decreased body weight compared with vehicle-treated control without change of high-fat diet intake. Plasma glucose and insulin were restored to levels of normal chow-fed rats, and circulating triglyceride and cholesterol were significantly decreased. POCU1b treatment also reverses the altered circulating adiponectin level. Adipose tissue mass, adipocyte hypertrophy, and deposition of triglyceride in liver were significantly decreased. These changes were accompanied by significant improvement of insulin sensitivity in POCU1b-treated rats. These data indicate that POCU1b provides an effective means of countering obesity and related diabetes induced by consumption of a high-fat diet.

Figure 1. Effects of daily administration of POCU1b on (A) body weight, plasma glucose, plasma insulin, and (B) adpocyte hypertrophy in rats with diet-induced diabesity. Representative images (x 40 magnifications) of epididymal adipocytes. All values are means±SE. *P<0.01 vs. normal fat deit, ^#P<0.01 vs. high fat diet.