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Multi-tissue lipotoxicity caused by high-fat diet feeding is attenuated by the supplementation of Korean red ginseng in mice

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Abstract

Background

Excessive intake of fat, one of the causes of obesity, is associated with low-grade inflammation in various susceptible organs and eventually causes tissue toxicity. This study examines the multifaceted suppressive effects of Korean red ginseng extract (KRG) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced lipotoxicity and inflammatory responses in the aorta, liver, and brain.

Methods

Male C57BL/6 mice were fed HFD with or without KRG for 12 weeks. The improvement effect in KRG on lipotoxicity and inflammatory potential was determined in the blood and the aorta, liver, and brain tissues.

Results

KRG significantly inhibited 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase activity by > 20% in vitro. KRG supplementation suppressed HFD-associated body weight gain, lipid profile changes, and excessive fat deposition in the liver and increased leptin, insulin, and ALT levels in the blood. Inflammatory markers in the aorta, liver, and brain were also significantly reduced by KRG treatment. In microvascular endothelial cells, the 15% cyclic stretch-mediated upregulation of ICAM-1 and vascular cell adhesion protein-1 (VCAM-1) expression was significantly attenuated in the presence of KRG.

Conclusion

KRG supplementation attenuates HFD-mediated body weight gain, lipid profile changes, and multi-tissue inflammatory responses.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the 2016 Grant from the Korean Society of Ginseng and funded by the Korea Ginseng Corporation.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Seon-A Jang, Seung Namkoong and Sung Ryul Lee contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oriental Medicine Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 17104, Republic of Korea

    Seon-A Jang & Se Chan Kang

  2. College of Health Sciences, Kangwon National University, Samcheok, 25949, Republic of Korea

    Seung Namkoong, Jin Woo Lee, Gyeongseop So, Sung Hyeok Kim, Mi-Ja Kim, Ki-Hyo Jang & Eun-Hwa Sohn

  3. Department of Convergence Biomedical Science, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, 47392, Republic of Korea

    Sung Ryul Lee

  4. Department of Bio and Environmental Technology, College of Natural Science, Seoul Women’s University, Seoul, 01797, Republic of Korea

    Yuna Park & Myung Kyum Kim

  5. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Alberto P. Avolio & Sumudu V. S. Gangoda

  6. Department of Medicinal and Industrial Crops, Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries, Jeonju, 54874, Republic of Korea

    Hyun Jung Koo

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  1. Seon-A Jang
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Contributions

S-AJ, SN, SRL and E-HS designed the research study. S-AJ, SN, JWL, YP, GS, SHK, M-JK, K-HJ, APA, SVSG, HJK, MKK and SCK performed the experiments and analysed data. S-AJ, SN, SRL and E-HS interpreted data and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eun-Hwa Sohn.

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Conflict of interest

Seon-A Jang, Seung Namkoong, Sung Ryul Lee, Jin Woo Lee, Yuna Park, Gyeongseop So, Sung Hyeok Kim, Mi-Ja Kim, Ki-Hyo Jang, Alberto P. Avolio, Sumudu V. S. Gangoda, Hyun Jung Koo, Myung Kyum Kim, Se Chan Kang and Eun-Hwa Sohn declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and animal rights

The experimental animal facility and study protocols were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Kangwon National University (KW-161129-1). All experimental procedures were undertaken in compliance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH Publications no. 8023, revised 1978) and the National Animal Welfare Law of the Republic of Korea.

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Jang, SA., Namkoong, S., Lee, S.R. et al. Multi-tissue lipotoxicity caused by high-fat diet feeding is attenuated by the supplementation of Korean red ginseng in mice. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 16, 39–50 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-019-00056-7

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