PPARα Activation by Culinary Herbs and Spices

Hyper- and dyslipidemia are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the primary cause of death in industrialized countries. Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR) a activation is involved in various mechanisms that improve the lipid profile. We tested various plant extracts and their compounds to determine whether they stimulated PPAR alpha activity in vitro. Out of 34 tested plant extracts, nine exhibited low to moderate PPAR alpha transactivation, including caraway, chili pepper, nutmeg, licorice, black and white pepper, paprika, coriander, saffron, and stevia tea. The active components of black pepper and chili pepper, piperine, and capsaicin exerted the highest transactivational activities with EC50 values of 84 mu M and 49 mu M, respectively. The chalcones, including 2-hydroxychalcone, 2'-hydroxychalcone, 4-hydroxychalcone, and 4-methoxychalcone, moderately transactivated PPAR alpha. Resveratrol and apigenin only slightly transactivated PPAR alpha. These results suggest that a diet rich in fruit, herbs, and spices provides a number of PPAR alpha agonists that might contribute to an improved lipid profile.