Abstract Adipogenesis is the overall process of adipocyte differentiation. With a positive energy balance, intracellular accumulation of triglyceride increases through the generation of functional adipocytes. This occurs with adipogenesis of… Click to show full abstract
Abstract Adipogenesis is the overall process of adipocyte differentiation. With a positive energy balance, intracellular accumulation of triglyceride increases through the generation of functional adipocytes. This occurs with adipogenesis of undifferentiated preadipocytes. Citrullus colocynthis (CC), a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, is a desert viny plant native to North Africa. The effect of ethanolic seed extracts of colocynth (SCEE) on adipogenesis was investigated using 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay; triglycerides were stained with Oil Red O and adipogenesis-related gene expressions were quantified using qRT-PCR. Results showed that SCEE helps to inhibit intracellular triglyceride accumulation during adipogenesis without affecting cell viability. Likewise, SCEE not only showed anti-adipogenic activities, essentially during the early stage, but their effects during the middle and late stages were very low. These effects have been confirmed by the down-regulation of C/EBPβ and C/EBPδ at 24, 48 and 72 h. In addition, SCEE treatment in 3T3-L1 cells induced down-regulation of the transcription factors CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ), and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) and their target genes. UPLC-ESI-MS/MS profiling showed 10 bioactive compounds including quinic acid, isovitexin, scoparin, vitexin-2’’-O-rhamnoside, reserpine, digitoxin, triprolidine, naringenin, linoleic acid and oleic acid. Thus, these results suggested that the seeds of colocynth may have beneficial health effects.
               
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