Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University PBX1, Mthatha, 5117, South Africa.
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Walter Sisulu University PBX1, Mthatha, 5117, South Africa.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2021 Nov 29;21(1):292. doi: 10.1186/s12906-021-03459-z.
Central obesity and insulin resistance are associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) which is aggravated by diet and sedentary lifestyle. Athrixia phylicoides (AP) is reported by rural communities to have medicinal benefits associated with MetS such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of AP on diet-induced MetS in Wistar rats to validate its ethnopharmacological use.
AP was profiled for phytochemicals by LC-MS. After induction of MetS with high energy diet (HED), 30 male rats were divided into five treatment groups (n = 6): normal diet control, HED control, HED + AP 50 mg/Kg BW, HED + AP 100 mg/Kg BW and HED + 50 mg/Kg BW metformin. The rats were treated daily for 8 weeks orally after which weight gain, visceral fat, total cholesterol, free fatty acids (FFAs) and adipokine regulation; leptin: adiponectin ratio (LAR) were assessed. Also, glucose homeostatic parameters including fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), glucose transporter 4 (GLUT 4), insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were determined.
Findings showed that AP was rich in polyphenols. The HED control group showed derangements of the selected blood parameters of MetS. AP reversed diet-induced weight gain by reducing visceral fat, total blood cholesterol and circulating FFAs (p ≤ 0.05). Treatment with AP improved adipokine regulation depicted by reduced LAR (p<0.05). Treatment with AP improved parameters of glucose homeostasis as demonstrated by reduced FBG and HOMA-IR (p ≤ 0.05) and increased GLUT 4 (p<0.05).
Athrixia phylicoides tea infusion was shown to possess anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory properties, improved glucose uptake and reduce insulin resistance in diet-induced MetS in rats which could be attributed to its richness in polyphenols. Therefore, AP could have potential benefits against type 2 diabetes and obesity which are components of MetS validating its ethnopharmacological use.
中心性肥胖和胰岛素抵抗与代谢综合征（MetS）有关，而饮食和久坐的生活方式会加重这种情况。农村社区报道，鬼针草具有与 MetS 相关的药用益处，如肥胖和 2 型糖尿病。本研究旨在探讨鬼针草对高热量饮食（HED）诱导的 Wistar 大鼠 MetS 的影响，以验证其民族药理学用途。
通过 LC-MS 对鬼针草进行植物化学成分分析。在使用高热量饮食（HED）诱导 MetS 后，将 30 只雄性大鼠分为五组（每组 n=6）：正常饮食对照组、HED 对照组、HED+AP 50mg/Kg BW、HED+AP 100mg/Kg BW 和 HED+50mg/Kg BW 二甲双胍组。大鼠每天口服给药治疗 8 周，然后评估体重增加、内脏脂肪、总胆固醇、游离脂肪酸（FFAs）和脂肪因子调节；瘦素：脂联素比值（LAR）。此外，还测定了葡萄糖稳态参数，包括空腹血糖（FBG）、口服葡萄糖耐量试验（OGTT）、葡萄糖转运蛋白 4（GLUT 4）、胰岛素和稳态模型评估的胰岛素抵抗（HOMA-IR）。
结果表明，鬼针草富含多酚。HED 对照组表现出 MetS 相关血液参数的紊乱。AP 通过减少内脏脂肪、总血胆固醇和循环 FFAs 来逆转饮食引起的体重增加（p≤0.05）。AP 治疗改善了脂肪因子调节，表现为 LAR 降低（p<0.05）。AP 治疗改善了葡萄糖稳态参数，表现为 FBG 和 HOMA-IR 降低（p≤0.05）和 GLUT 4 增加（p<0.05）。
鬼针草茶提取物具有抗肥胖和抗炎作用，可改善饮食诱导的 MetS 大鼠的葡萄糖摄取并降低胰岛素抵抗，这可能归因于其多酚含量丰富。因此，AP 可能对 2 型糖尿病和肥胖症有潜在益处，而肥胖症是 MetS 的组成部分，这验证了其民族药理学用途。
