Fifty Percent Ethanolic Extract of Momordica charantia Inhibits Adipogenesis and Promotes Adipolysis in ۳T۳-L۱ Pre-Adipocyte Cells

Background: Natural products have gained importance recently for the treatment of obesity and its complications, partly because of the side effects of modern drugs.Hence, we aimed to study and compare the effect of varying concentrations of Momordicacharantiaon adipogenesis and adipolysis using ۳T۳-L۱ pre-adipocyte cell lines. Methods: ۳T۳-L۱ pre-adipocytes were procured from the National Center for Cell Sciences, Pune, and cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Media (DMEM) supplemented with ۲۰% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and ۱ mM L-glutamine. An ethanolic extract of M. charantia (EEMC)was prepared by the graded ethanol fractionation method and the total phenol content (TPC) determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau (F-C) assay. The cytotoxic dose was determined by the sulforhodamine-B (SRB) assay. The adipogenesis and adipolysis assays (Cayman chemicals, Ann Arbor, USA) were performed according to the manufacturer’s protocols. Results: The ۳T۳-L۱ pre-adipocytes treated with increasing concentrations of EEMC during (p= ۰.۰۱۲) and after (p= ۰.۰۲۶) differentiation demonstrated significant reduction in lipid droplet accumulation. There was a significant decrease in glycerol release during differentiation (p= ۰.۰۱۸) and a significant increase in glycerol release after differentiation (p= ۰.۰۰۰۷) with increasing concentrations of EEMC. However, the effect of EEMC on adipogenesis and adipolysis was greater during ۳T۳-L۱ pre-adipocyte differentiation than after. Conclusions: The data showed that the ۵۰% EEMC is potent inhibitor of lipogenesis and stimulator of lipolysis in ۳T۳-L۱ pre-adipocytes. Further analyses will be performed to determine the key antioxidant compound(s) in the extract by phenolic acid profiling using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Also, the mechanism of action of EEMC on adipogenesis and adipolysis will be elucidated.

Keywords:

Adipogenesis , Adipolysis , Momordicacharantia , Glycerol release , ۳T۳-L۱ pre-adipocytes , Oil red staining