Garcinia Cambogia attenuates diet-induced adiposity but exacerbates hepatic collagen accumulation and inflammation

Figure 5 Summary of the long-term Garcinia Cambogia supplementation effects on adiposity, glucose tolerance and steatohepatitis in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. The Garcinia Cambogia (GC) supplementation decreased fatty acid synthase (FAS) mRNA expression and its activity, while peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) mRNA expression along with the activities of CPT and β-oxidation were increased in the visceral adipose tissue, indicating that these changes may be potential mechanisms for reducing body fat accumulation and glucose intolerance induced by high-fat diet (HFD). Furthermore, GC supplementation decreased the plasma resistin level, which may be also related to improved glucose tolerance. There were no significant changes in hepatic lipid accumulation as well as in hepatic gene expression and enzymatic activity involved in fatty acid synthesis, oxidation and storage. However, GC increased pro-inflammatory monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA expression, lipid peroxidation and collagen accumulation in the liver. Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were also increased by GC supplementation in HFD-induced obese mice, thus suggesting that GC may negatively affect liver function by increasing hepatic fibrosis, inflammation and oxidative stress without affecting hepatic fat accumulation. FA: Fatty acid; HCA: Hydroxycitric acid. Open square means enzymes activities that up- or down-regulated by GC. Solid circle means genes expression that up- or down-regulated by GC.