Α-Lactalbumin ameliorates hepatic lipid metabolism in high-fat-diet induced obese C57BL/6J mice. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Haoran; Guan, Kaifang; Qi, Xiaofen; Wang, Rongchun; Ma, Ying
• Is Part Of: Journal of functional foods. Volume 75(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: α-Lactalbumin -- Obesity -- β-Oxidation -- Hepatic steatosis; Functional foods -- Analysis -- Periodicals; Food -- Biotechnology -- Periodicals; Nutrition -- Periodicals; 613.2
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2020.104253
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-4646

Abstract

Graphical abstract: α-Lactalbumin improves high-fat-diet induced obesity and hepatic lipid metabolism by activating fatty acid β-oxidation and inhibiting lipogenesis in the liver. Highlights: α-LA ameliorated obesity and hepatic steatosis in obese mice. α-LA improved serum lipids and insulin resistance of obese mice. α-LA upregulated genes expression of fatty acid β-oxidation in the liver. α-LA reduced obesity mainly attribute to the activation of PPARα. Abstract: Bovine α-lactalbumin (α-LA) is a critical component of whey protein (WP). It has regulatory effects on obesity, but the regulatory mechanism remains unclear. The present study investigated the beneficial effect of α-lactalbumin (α-LA) on obesity-related hepatic lipid metabolism in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese C57BL/6J mice. The results showed that supplementation with α-LA for 8 weeks improved body weight gain, serum lipids, and hepatic steatosis and alleviated glucose tolerance and insulin resistance in obese mice. Additionally, α-LA upregulated the expression of fatty acid β-oxidation-related genes and downregulated the expression of lipogenesis-related genes in the livers of obese mice. Our study suggested that the benefit of α-LA on improving hepatic lipid metabolism may be mainly associated with the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) pathways in liver tissues. Therefore, α-LA may be used as a dietary therapy for obesity and related metabolic disorders.