Suppressive effects of quercetin-3-O-(6″-Feruloyl)-β-D-galactopyranoside on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes through down-regulation of PPARγ and C/EBPα expression.

Obesity is a chronic, costly disease, and flavonoids such as quercetin have been proven to play protective roles against it. This study investigated the suppressive effect of quercetin-3-O-(6″-feruloyl)-β-D-galactopyranoside (QFG) on adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Quercetin-3-O-(6″-feruloyl)-β-D-galactopyranoside and quercetin were both extracted from Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae, commonly known as guava) leaves and were evaluated for their suppressive effect on adipogenesis by means of oil red O staining and triglyceride assay. It was shown that QFG inhibited adipogenesis in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and it exerted a stronger effect than did quercetin at the same concentration. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were conducted to further examine the differentiation expression of marker genes and transcriptional factors. Both mRNA and protein expression of the key adipogenic transcriptional factors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and CCAAT (cytidine-cytidine-adenosine-adenosine-thymidine)/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), were inhibited by QFG. Moreover, the mRNA expression patterns of key participants in the Wnt-β-catenin pathway were not altered during the QFG-induced adipogenesis inhibition. These results suggest that QFG effectively suppresses adipogenesis and that it exerts its role mainly through the significant down-regulation of PPARγ and C/EBPα and, probably, via a Wnt-β-catenin independent pathway.