Mechanism Underlying Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes by Food-Derived Factors such as Plant Pigments

(JSNFS Award for Excellence in Research (2022))

Abstract

We aimed to reveal why food-derived factors such as plant pigments prevent obesity and diabetes. Anthocyanins are unstable plant pigments that degrade at neutral pH. Accordingly, they have been considered to have no significant bioactivity in vivo. However, we previously reported that anthocyanins are directly absorbed into blood and that metabolites (or degradation products) derived from them are generated in the body. We also reported that dietary anthocyanins significantly suppressed body fat accumulation and improve glucose tolerance. In our studies of curcumin, we found that a highly bioavailable curcumin formulation significantly induced the formation of beige adipocytes. Moreover, we clarified that artepillin C (ArtC, a propolis-derived component) induced beige adipocyte formation and thermogenesis in association with the uncoupling protein 1-independent pathway. We also reported that co-administration of curcumin and ArtC significantly induced beige adipocyte formation. Furthermore, administration of an amino acid mixture combined with exercise synergistically induced beige adipocyte formation, indicating that a combination of food-derived factors and exercise offers a unique biological response for induction of beige adipocyte formation, which may be involved in increasing energy expenditure. These results provide a basis for the promotion and development of new functional research on food-derived factors.