Myricetin-induced brown adipose tissue activation prevents obesity and insulin resistance in db/db mice

Myricetin, a dietary flavonoid, is effective in the treatment of obesity and insulin resistance by increasing glucose transport and lipogenesis in adipocyte and diminishing systemic inflammation in obesity. However, it has not been revealed yet whether myricetin is associated with brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation that tightly mediates systemic energy metabolism. Therefore, this study assessed whether myricetin activated brown adipose tissue in db/db mouse.

Myricetin (400 mg/kg) in distilled water was fed daily by oral gavage to leptin receptor-deficient db/db male mice at 4 weeks of age for 14 weeks. Body weight change, glucose intolerance test, blood lipid profile and BAT activation using PET-CT were assessed.

After myricetin treatment for 14 weeks, systemic insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis were significantly improved in db/db mice with body weight reduction and myricetin led to decreased adipocity, improved plasma lipid profiles and increased energy expenditure. Myricetin activated BAT by upregulating thermogenic protein expression and activating mitochondrial biogenesis, eventually increasing heat dissipation in skin after cold exposure. In iWAT, myricetin induced beige formation, increased thermogenic protein expression and activated mitochondrial biogenesis. Consistently, thermogenic gene expression was upregulated when myricetin was introduced in C₃H₁₀T_1/2 cells during brown adipocytes differentiation. Moreover, the expression level of adiponectin was significantly increased in C₃H₁₀T_1/2 cells, adipose tissues and plasma after myricetin treatment.

These results highlight that myricetin prevents obesity and systemic insulin resistance by activating BAT and increasing adiponectin expression in BAT.