Department of Biological Science, Sookmyung Women's University, Cheongpa-ro 47-gil 100, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-742, Korea.
Nutr Res Pract. 2011 Jun;5(3):198-204. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2011.5.3.198. Epub 2011 Jun 21.
Target herbal ingredient (THI) is an extract made from two herbs, Scutellariae Radix and Platycodi Radix. It has been developed as a treatment for metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, and hypertension. One component of these two herbs has been reported to have anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic, and anti-obesity activities. However, there have been no reports about the effects of the mixed extract of these two herbs on metabolic diseases. In this study, we investigated the metabolic effects of THI using a diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. High-fat diet (HFD) mice were orally administered daily with 250 mg/kg of THI. After 10 weeks of treatment, the THI-administered HFD mice showed reduction of body weights and epididymal white adipose tissue weights as well as improved glucose tolerance. In addition, the level of total cholesterol in the serum was markedly reduced. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of the metabolic effects of THI in vitro, 3T3-L1 cells were treated with THI, after which the mRNA levels of adipogenic transcription factors, including C/EBPα and PPARγ, were measured. The results show that the expression of these two transcription factors was down regulated by THI in a dose-dependent manner. We also examined the combinatorial effects of THI and swimming exercise on metabolic status. THI administration simultaneously accompanied by swimming exercise had a synergistic effect on serum cholesterol levels. These findings suggest that THI could be developed as a supplement for improving metabolic status.
目标草药成分 (THI) 是从黄芩和桔梗两种草药中提取的一种提取物。它已被开发为治疗代谢疾病的药物，如高血脂、动脉粥样硬化和高血压。这两种草药的一种成分已被报道具有抗炎、抗高血脂和抗肥胖活性。然而，关于这两种草药的混合提取物对代谢疾病的影响尚未有报道。在这项研究中，我们使用饮食诱导肥胖 (DIO) 小鼠模型研究了 THI 的代谢作用。高脂饮食 (HFD) 小鼠每天口服给予 250mg/kg 的 THI。经过 10 周的治疗，THI 给药的 HFD 小鼠体重和附睾白色脂肪组织重量减轻，葡萄糖耐量改善。此外，血清总胆固醇水平明显降低。为了阐明 THI 在体外的代谢作用的分子机制，用 THI 处理 3T3-L1 细胞，然后测量脂肪生成转录因子，包括 C/EBPα 和 PPARγ 的 mRNA 水平。结果表明，这两种转录因子的表达被 THI 以剂量依赖性方式下调。我们还检查了 THI 和游泳运动对代谢状态的组合效应。THI 给药同时伴有游泳运动对血清胆固醇水平有协同作用。这些发现表明，THI 可开发为改善代谢状态的补充剂。
