Camellia oleifera seed extract attenuated abdominal and hepatic fat accumulation in rats fed a high-fat diet

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the hot-water extract of defatted Camellia oleifera seeds (CSE) on body and liver fat accumulation in rats. Forty rats were divided into 5 groups and each group was fed either an isocaloric control diet or a high-fat liquid diet with 0% (H), 0.12% (H1), 0.24% (H2), or 0.48% CSE (H3) for 8 weeks. Ingestion of the high-fat liquid diet increased abdominal and liver fat accumulation, although no difference was found in body weights compared with rats fed the control diet. We found that rats fed the H2 and H3 diets had lower plasma alanine aminotransferase activities than the H group in the fourth and eighth weeks. At the end of the study, the H2 and H3 groups also had lower epididymal and retroperitoneal fat masses, and all CSE groups had lower circulatory leptin levels than the H group. CSE consumption decreased hepatic fat accumulation in terms of liver triglycerides and a histopathology analysis, and ameliorated high-fat diet-induced elevation of hepatic tumor necrosis factor-α levels. We also found that CSE groups had lower malondialdehyde and hydroxyproline levels in the liver. Our results suggested that CSE may exert beneficial effects through decreasing body fat accumulation and hepatic steatosis and regulating adipokine levels in diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.