Bacaba phenolic extract attenuates adipogenesis by down-regulating PPARγ and C/EBPα in 3T3-L1 cells

Abstract

Bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba Mart.) is a native Brazilian palm fruit with a high amount of polyphenolics, reported to have an apoptotic effect on cancer cells [1]. Here, we examined the effect of Bacaba phenolic extract (BPE) on adipogenesis using 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Proliferating and differentiating adipocytes were incubated with BPE at 6, 12, and 24 μg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/ml. BPE reduced accumulation of intracellular lipids and protein expression of adipogenic markers including PPARγ, C/EBPα, FABP4, IR-β, and adiponectin in a dose-dependent manner during differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes. Furthermore, lipid accumulation decreased with BPE (24 μg of GAE/ml) during the early stage of mitotic clonal expansion (Days 0–2). In contrast, the inhibition of protein expression of adipogenic markers needed a longer duration (Days 0–4, 0–7, 2–7) of BPE incubation. These results suggest that BPE inhibits adipogenisis in vitro via targeting transcriptional factors during the early and middle stages of differentiation.

Keywords

• Bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba Mart.) phenolic extract
• 3T3-L1 cells
• Adipogenesis
• PPARγ
• C/EBPα