Anti-obesity effect of Schisandra chinensis in 3T3-L1 cells and high fat diet-induced obese rats

In the present study, Schisandra chinensis (SC) was evaluated for inhibition effects on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells and anti-obesity properties in high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats. SC prevented lipid accumulation and impaired the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes in a dose-dependent manner compared with the cells allowed to differentiate in DMII treated-control cells. SC treatment decreased expression of the key adipocyte differentiation regulator C/EBPβ, as well as C/EBPα or PPARγ, and resultant down-regulation of the terminal marker gene, aP2 during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes. Moreover, Akt and GSK3β phosphorylation was down-regulated by SC treatment, which blocked adipogenesis and adipocyte differentiation. SC also inhibited HFD induced weight gain and adiposity in rats. HFD-induced obese rats showed a significant increase in the levels of serum TG and TC compared to rats on a normal diet. However, the levels of serum TG and TC in HFD + SC rats reduced significantly relative to the levels in HFD rats. Taken together, our results indicate that SC extracts inhibited preadipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis in cultured cells, leading to decreased body weight and fat tissue mass in HFD obese rats.