Cornus and Ribes fasciculatum Complex Extract Curbs Weight Gain in Obese Mice at Three Doses

A complex extract mixing Cornus (Cornus officinalis) and Ribes fasciculatum curbed weight gain in obese male mice. The study was published in Animals by researchers at the Department of Medical Genetics at Ajou University School of Medicine and NINEB. While the earlier study focused on deciding the blending ratio, this study looked at the response by dose and at obesity-related indicators more broadly.

Comparing Three Doses

The researchers divided 4-week-old male C57BL/6J mice into a normal diet group, a group on a high-fat diet with 60% fat, and groups on the high-fat diet that were given the complex extract orally at 75, 150 or 300 mg per kg of body weight per day, and observed them for 12 weeks. Body weight was measured periodically, and changes in the liver and adipose tissue were confirmed by tissue examination.

In the mice that were fed the extract, weight gain from the high-fat diet was curbed, and there was less fatty liver and less fat cell enlargement. Lower expression of fat-production genes in adipose tissue was suggested as the background. Obesity-related metabolic indicators, including blood biochemistry markers, were also better than in the high-fat diet control group.

Evidence Broadened With a Male Model

Unlike the same research group's menopause-related study, which used ovariectomised female mice, this study used male mice. The fact that results in a similar direction appeared in a model of the other sex broadens the range of the evidence.