Anti-obesity and Anti-oxidant Effect of Acetone Ginger(Zingiber officinale) Extract in High Fat Diet Induced Obese C57BL/6 Mice

Abstract

Obesity increases the risk of a number of health conditions including hypertension, adverse lipid concentration and type 2 diabetes. It is a major disease problem around the world and a plethora of herbal medicines are suggested to control these disorders efficiently. Specifically, Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Ginger) is a potent of herbal remedy and is one of the most commonly used as a spice in various foods and beverages. Gingerhas become a subject of interest because of its beneficial effects on human health. Apart from its other traditional medical uses, Zingiber officinale Roscoe has been used to control diabetes and dyslipidaemia. In the present study, the protective effects of daily oral administration of an acetone Z.officinale extract on the development of metabolic syndrome were investigated in a high fat diet fed C57BL/6 mice (n=50; 8-wk-old) model at doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. The mice were divided into 5 groups: Normal Diet (ND), High Fat Diet (HFD); High Fat Diet+Acetone extract of Z.officinale 100 mg/kg body weight (HFD+100G); High Fat Diet+Acetone extract of Z.officinale 200 mg/kg body weight (HFD+200G); High Fat Diet+Acetone extract of Z.officinale 400 mg/kg body weight (HFD+400G). The mice fed High Fat Diet with Acetone extract of Z.officinale was administered orally for 6 weeks. The marked rise in body weights, white adipose tissue (WAT) weight triglycerides, and total cholesterol serum levels in feces of the mice that followed 6 weeks of high-fat diet treatment were significantly reduced by Z.officinale treatment. Furthermore, the obese mice fed with Acetone extract of Z.officinale also have shown a significant decrease of cell size while increasing the cell number in WAT. High Fat Diet (HFD) group of histometrical examinations of liver indicated a large number of circular lipid droplets compared to the normal diet and Z.officinalen treatment groups. However, no significant change in serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL cholesterol/ TC were observed either in high fat diet or Z.officinale compared to both of control groups. Remarkably, liver enzymes (AST, ALT) results revealed a significant decrease in mice treated with HFD+200G and 400G mg/kg. Thus, the present study results validate with the scientific evidence that the traditional herbal medicines particularly, ginger can prevent the obesity.