Abstract
We investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with softened kombu on parameters related to metabolic syndrome in mice with diet-induced obesity. C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into three groups and fed a high-fat diet containing cellulose (CO group) , dried kombu (IN group) and softened kombu (SO group) corresponding to 5% total dietary fiber for 12 weeks. As a result, the total liver lipid content, and the serum concentrations of insulin and leptin were significantly lower in the study groups than in the CO group. Significant differences in abdominal fat mass, adipose tissue cell size and serum cholesterol concentration were observed between the SO group and the CO group. The expression of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for hepatic fatty acid synthase (FAS) and diacylglycerol acyl transferase 1 (DGAT1) was lower in the SO group than in the CO group. These results indicate that dietary supplementation with softened kombu is more effective than dried kombu for improving parameters related to metabolic syndrome.
