Improvement of high-fat-diet-induced metabolic syndrome by ethanol extract of Polygonatum falcatum (ID1215B) in mice

Sirtuin, a NAD+-dependent class III histone deacetylase, is closely related to calorie restriction (CR) – mediated life span expansion in yeast and rodents. Recently, it has been also reported that sirtuins improve various chronic diseases associated with metabolic dysfunction such as diabetes and obesity.

In this study, we screened to find Sirt1 (a mammalian homolog of sirtuin) modulating herbal extracts. We identified the ethanol extracts of Polygonatum falcatum A.Gray (ID1215B) increased the expression of Sirt1 protein in HEK293 cells and further investigated the effects of ID1215B on metabolic syndrome in mice. The metabolic effect was evaluated in male C57Bl/6J mice administered in high fat (HF) diet that were orally given a dose of 250 or 750mg/kg/day of ID1215B for 8 weeks. ID1215B significantly decreased body weight gain, lipid accumulation in adipose tissue, serum triglyceride and free fatty acid levels and improved insulin resistance. In addition, ID1215B increased the expression of genes related to mitochondrial biogenesis and fatty acid oxidation in the HF-diet mice. Taken together, our results indicate that ID1215B may be a promising anti-obesity therapeutic agent that could improve the metabolic syndrome including the insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia as well as body weight gain.

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