Alpinia officinarum inhibits adipocyte differentiation and high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice through regulation of adipogenesis and lipogenesis.

Although Alpinia officinarum has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several conditions, such as abdominal pain, emesis, diarrhea, impaired renal function, and dysentery, little is known about its function in obesity. In this study, we investigated the antiobesity effect of A. officinarum ethanol extract (AOE) on lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells and obesity in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). AOE dose-dependently suppressed lipid accumulation during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by downregulating CCAAT enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP-1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) genes. Galangin, a major component of A. officinarum, had antiadipogenic effects in 3T3-L1 cells. AOE supplementation in mice fed a HFD revealed that AOE significantly decreased HFD-induced increases in body, liver, and white adipose tissue weights and decreased serum insulin and leptin levels. To elucidate the inhibitory mechanism of AOE in obesity, lipid metabolism-related genes were identified. AOE efficiently suppressed protein expressions of C/EBPα, fatty acid synthase, SREBP-1, and PPAR-γ in the liver and adipose tissue. The protein expression patterns, observed by immunoblot, were confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Collectively, these results suggest that AOE prevents obesity by suppressing adipogenic and lipogenic genes. AOE has potential for use as an antiobesity therapeutic agent that can function by regulating lipid metabolism.