Regulation of obesity and lipid disorders by herbal extracts from Morus alba, Melissa officinalis, and Artemisia capillaris in high-fat diet-induced obese mice

Melissa officinalis L. (Labiatae), Mortis alba L. (Moraceae), and Artemisia capillaris Thumb. (Compositae) are suggested to be involved in the regulation of hyperlipidemia. We hypothesized that Ob-X, a mixture of three herbs, Mortis alba, Melissa officinalis and Artemisia iwayomogi, improves lipid metabolism, body weight gain and adiposity and that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR alpha) is associated with these events. Mice fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks exhibited increases in body weight gain and adipose tissue mass compared with mice fed a low fat diet. However, feeding a high-fat diet supplemented with Ob-X significantly reduced these effects. Ob-X treatment also decreased the circulating levels of triglycerides and total cholesterol, and inhibited hepatic lipid accumulation. Ob-X supplementation was found to increase the hepatic mRNA levels of PPAR alpha target enzymes responsible for fatty acid beta-oxidation. Moreover, Ob-X elevated the endogenous expression of a luciferase reporter gene containing three copies of a PPAR response element (PPRE) in NMu2Li liver cells. These data demonstrate that Ob-X regulates body weight gain, adipose tissue mass, and lipid metabolism in part through changes in the expression of hepatic PPAR alpha target genes. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.