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Updated: May 20, 2026
Assessing Whole-Body Lipid-Handling Capacity in Mice
Published on: November 24, 2020
Comparative Study on the Effects of Ginseng and Green Tea Extracts on Selected Lipid Metabolism Markers in Adipocyte
Mandana Salehi1, Kahin Shahanipour1, Ramesh Monajemi2
1Department of Biochemistry, Fal.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
Background:
Dietary patterns are effective in obesity treatment. This has led to more investigations on its mechanisms in combating obesity.
Objectives:
This study investigated the effects of ginseng and green tea extracts (GTE) on selected markers of lipid metabolism and the expression of some related genes in adipocytes.
Methods:
After a one-month period of consuming a high fatty content diet, a total of 42 male Wistar rats were assigned to seven groups randomly. The rats were then subjected to an eight-week treatment where they were administered different dosages of GTE and ginseng extract (GE) through oral administration. Then, some serologic parameters pertaining to lipid metabolism were analyzed in the treated rats. Furthermore, alterations in the expression levels of select genes, bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7), hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL), and leptin, implicated in lipid metabolism, were quantified within the adipose tissue of the rats utilizing the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) methodology. Ultimately, the chemical composition of the extracts was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Results:
The findings indicated that the utilization of the extracts had a notable impact on the reduction of body weight. There was a noteworthy enhancement of high-density lipoprotein levels across all study groups, as indicated by a statistically significant increase at a confidence level of 95%. The efficacy of the administered extracts was observed in a significant upregulation in BMP7 and HSL gene expression. Conversely, there was a notable reduction in leptin expression, which reached statistical significance at a confidence level of 95%. HPLC results detected 9 ginsenosides in the GE, among which Rb1 (100 mAU) was present in the largest amount, and 9 alkaloids in the GTE, among which epicatechin (EC) (380 mAU) and caffeine (320 mAU) were present in the largest amount.
Conclusions:
The present study holds the potential to offer novel insights regarding the mechanism through which GE and GTE exert their anti-obesity effects.
