Abstract
Echinacea purpurea has been shown to have anti-diabetic activities; for example, it activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and increases insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Adipogenesis has been used to study the insulin signaling pathway and to screen anti-diabetic compounds. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of an ethanol extract of E. purpurea (EEEP) and its constituents on the insulin-induced adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. When adipocyte differentiation was induced with insulin plus 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine and dexamethasone, the accumulation of lipid droplets and the cellular triglyceride content were significantly increased by EEEP. The expressions of PPARγ and C/EBPα in adipocytes treated with EEEP were gradually increased as compared with control cells. Fat accumulation and triglyceride content of adipocytes treated with dodeca-2(E),4(E)-dienoic acid isobutylamide were significantly increased as compared with control cells. The expressions of PPARγ and C/EBPα in adipocytes treated with dodeca-2(E),4(E)-dienoic acid isobutylamide were significantly higher than in control cells. These results suggest EEEP promotes the adipogenesis that is partially induced by insulin and that dodeca-2(E),4(E)-dienoic acid isobutylamide appears to be responsible for EEEP-enhanced adipocyte differentiation.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2011-0013320), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (MRC, 2010-0029480), the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE, 1415126993) through the fostering project of Osong Academy-Indudtry Convergence (BAIO), and the “Leaders INdustry-university Cooperation” Project funded by the Ministry of Education.
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Dong-Mi Shin and Kyeong-Mi Choi contributed equally to this study.
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Shin, DM., Choi, KM., Lee, YS. et al. Echinacea purpurea root extract enhances the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. Arch. Pharm. Res. 37, 803–812 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-013-0251-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-013-0251-y