2021 Volume 27 Issue 5 Pages 807-816
Insect feces tea has been used as traditional Chinese medicine. Obesity is one of the main factors of lifestyle diseases, so prevention and improvement of obesity are indispensable for living a healthy life in modern society. We examined the lipid accumulation-suppressing effect of tea from Locusta migratoria (LT) in vitro and in vivo assays. LT suppressed the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells to adipocytes, but not the process of accumulation of lipid droplets. Furthermore, it suppressed the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)γ and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP)α, master regulators of differentiation. In mice fed a high-fat diet and administered with LT, the body weight did not change compared to the mice fed with water; however, the white fat weight, particularly the visceral fat, was reduced significantly. These results indicated the potential of LT to suppress fat accumulation by inhibiting adipocyte differentiation.
