Abstract:
White, green, and oolong teas are produced from the tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze)
and are reported to have anti-obesity and hypolipidemic effects. The current study aims to investigate
the anti-obesity effects of a tea mixture nano-formulation by targeting the AMPK/Sirt-1/GLUT-4
axis in rats. In vitro lipase and α-amylase inhibition assays were used to determine the active
sample, which was then incorporated into a nanoparticle formulation subjected to in vivo anti-obesity
testing in rats by measuring the expression level of different genes implicated in adipogenesis and
inflammation using qRT-PCR. Moreover, metabolomic analysis was performed for each tea extract
using LC/ESI MS/MS coupled to chemometrics in an attempt to find a correlation between the
constituents of the extracts and their biological activity. The in vitro pancreatic lipase and α-amylase
inhibition assays demonstrated more effective activity in the tea mixture than the standards, orlistat
and acarbose, respectively, and each tea alone. Thus, the herbal tea mixture and its nanoparticle
formulation were evaluated for their in vivo anti-obesity activity. Intriguingly, the tea mixture
significantly decreased the serum levels of glucose and triglycerides and increased the mRNA
expression of GLUT-4, P-AMPK, Sirt-1, and PPAR-γ, which induce lipolysis while also decreasing the
mRNA expression of TNF-α and ADD1/SREBP-1c, thereby inhibiting the inflammation associated
with obesity. Our study suggests that the tea mixture nano-formulation is a promising therapeutic
agent in the treatment of obesity and may also be beneficial in other metabolic disorders by targeting
the AMPK/Sirt-1/Glut-4 pathway.
