%A Benjamin Perry, Junzeng Zhang, Tarek Saleh, Yanwen Wang %T Liuwei Dihuang, a traditional Chinese herbal formula, suppresses chronic inflammation and oxidative stress in obese rats %0 Journal Article %D 2014 %J Journal of Integrative Medicine %R 10.1016/S2095-4964(14)60044-3 %P 447-454 %V 12 %N 5 %U {http://www.jcimjournal.com/CN/abstract/article_1773.shtml} %8 2014-09-10 %X
Objective
To investigate the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, and adipokine-ameliorating effects of Liuwei Dihuang (LWDH), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, in obese rats.
Methods
After 2 weeks of acclimation with free access to regular rodent chow and water, obese-prone-caesarean-derived (OP-CD) rats were fed a modified AIN-93G diet containing 60% energy from fat. Treatment was performed twice daily by gavage feeding with 500, 1 500, or 3 500 mg/kg body weight LWDH suspended in water (n=12 rats per group). Twelve obese-resistant-CD (OR-CD) rats were fed the atherogenic diet and gavaged with water, and served as the normal control. Blood biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress and adiponectin were measured post-sacrifice and used to determine the treatment effect of LWDH and assess the suitability of OR/OP-CD rats for studying these parameters.
Results
After 9 weeks of treatment, LWDH lowered serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels showed a tendency towards reduction, but were not significantly different from the OP-CD control. Liver superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was increased in response to all three doses of LWDH, while the levels of reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were unchanged. Serum adiponectin levels were increased in response to oral administration of LWDH at the dose of either 500 or 1 500 mg/kg body weight. In addition, comparisons between OR-CD and OP-CD rats revealed differential, and for some biomarkers, conflicting characteristics of high-fat diet-fed OP-CD rats in reference to obese human subjects in terms of inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers and circulating adiponectin levels.
Conclusion