Octacosanol and policosanol prevent high-fat diet-induced obesity and metabolic disorders by activating brown adipose tissue and improving liver metabolism

摘要

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is an attractive therapeutic target for treating obesity and metabolicdiseases. Octacosanol is the main component of policosanol, a mixture of very long chain aliphaticalcohols obtained from plants. The current study aimed to investigate the efect of octacosanol andpolicosanol on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. Mice were fed on chow, or HFD, with or withoutoctacosanol or policosanol treatment for four weeks. HFD-fed mice showed signifcantly higherbody weight and body fat compared with chow-fed mice. However, mice fed on HFD treated withoctacosanol or policosanol (HFDo/p) showed lower body weight gain, body fat gain, insulin resistanceand hepatic lipid content. Lower body fat gain after octacosanol or policosanol was associated withincreased BAT activity, reduced expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and cholesterol uptake inthe liver, and amelioration of white adipose tissue (WAT) infammation. Moreover, octacosanol andpolicosanol signifcantly increased the expression of Ffar4, a gene encoding polyunsaturated fatty acidreceptor, which activates BAT thermogenesis. Together, these results suggest that octacosanol andpolicosanol ameliorate diet-induced obesity and metabolic disorders by increasing BAT activity andimproving hepatic lipid metabolism. Thus, these lipids represent promising therapeutic targets for theprevention and treatment of obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorders.