Rubus chingii var. suavissimus alleviates high-fat diet-induced lipid metabolism disorder via modulation of the PPARs/SREBP pathway in Syrian golden hamsters.

While the underlying mechanism remains unknown, Rubus chingii var. suavissimus (S. K. Lee) L. T. Lu or Rubus suavissimus S. Lee (RS), a sweet plant distributed in southwest of China, has been used as beverage and folk medicine. Pharmacological studies indicated the potential of RS improving the obesity phenotype and hyperlipidemia. The mechanism is still not yet to be put forward. To verify the substantial effects of RS on lipid metabolism, a Syrian golden hamster model was adopted. The physiological and pathological evaluation of experimental animals demonstrated that RS can relieve the lipid metabolism disorder induced by high-fat diet and alleviated liver injury. RS upregulation the expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), PPARγ and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), as well as adipocyte-specific genes, glucose transporter 4 (Glut4), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and fatty acid binding protein 4 (aP2). On the other side, RS suppressed the sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1) and downstream acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1), stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). In conclusion, RS alleviated lipid metabolism disorder symptoms caused by high-fat diet accompanied with 8 weeks of treatment, involving enhanced β-oxidation, increased adipogenesis and decreased the metabolism of fatty acids, via modulation of the PPARs/SREBP pathway in Syrian golden hamsters.