White adipose tissues and skeletal muscles as a target of chrysin during the treatment of obesity in rats.

Obesity is a rapidly growing epidemic that continues to be a major severe health problem due to its association with various adverse health consequences. Since 1975, the WHO estimates that the prevalence of obesity has tripled globally. Chrysin is a flavone that is mostly found in the Passiflore species of plants and in propolis. The present study was conducted to examine the anti-obesity effect of chrysin on a high-fat diet-induced obesity in rats and to compare their impact to physical activity (swimming). Rats were classified into two groups: the control group and the obese group, which was subdivided into 4 subgroups (8 rats each); an untreated obese group; a chrysin-treated group (oral dose of 100 mg/kg/day); swimming-treated groups (swimming for 1 h/day, five days/week with a constant overload equal to 5% of their weight); and combination-treated groups (chrysin and swimming). After 8 weeks of treatment, blood samples were taken at the end of the experiment for biochemical tests. Animals were then slaughtered to get white adipose tissue (WAT) and skeletal muscle for analysis of the gene expression of the studied genes. In obese rats, therapy with chrysin reduced weight gain, hyperglycaemia, and insulin resistance. Also, the effects of chrysin may be mediated through acting as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidative stress agent. Physical activity (swimming) is a more efficient anti-obesity agent than treating with chrysin alone through upregulation of PPAR-γ and downregulation of Mir-27a. Physical activity with daily supplementation of chrysin showed the best efficiency for the treatment of obesity.