Triacetin suppresses fat accumulation in high-fat diet-fed mice

The number of individuals with obesity is increasing worldwide each year, and food-derived bioactive compounds have been proposed as a means of preventing and improving obesity. Triacetin is mainly used as a food additive and is classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a substance that is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). This study evaluated the anti-obesity effects of triacetin in mice fed a high-fat diet supplemented with triacetin. Six-week-old C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet containing 5 % triacetin for 67 days. After 67 days of feeding, the feed efficiency and weights of perirenal fat and total visceral fat in the 5 % triacetin group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Although there were no significant differences in cholesterol levels in the serum and liver between the 5 % triacetin group and the control group, microarray analysis revealed that the hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis related transcriptional programs appeared to be upregulated in the 5 % triacetin group. On the other hand, fecal total cholesterol levels were significantly increased in the triacetin group, and fecal total bile acids showed an increasing trend. These results suggest that alterations in cholesterol metabolism may have promoted bile acid synthesis and excretion, which in turn may have contributed to a reduction in body fat. Although future studies are needed to explore this possibility, triacetin may be a compound that can be used to prevent obesity.