Regulation of obesity and lipid disorders by herbal extracts from Morus alba, Melissa officinalis, and Artemisia capillaris in high-fat diet-induced obese mice

Melissa officinalis L. (Labiatae), Morus alba L. (Moraceae), and Artemisia capillaris Thunb. (Compositae) are suggested to be involved in the regulation of hyperlipidemia. We hypothesized that Ob-X, a mixture of three herbs, Morus alba, Melissa officinalis and Artemisia iwayomogi, improves lipid metabolism, body weight gain and adiposity and that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) is associated with these events. Mice fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks exhibited increases in body weight gain and adipose tissue mass compared with mice fed a low fat diet. However, feeding a high-fat diet supplemented with Ob-X significantly reduced these effects. Ob-X treatment also decreased the circulating levels of triglycerides and total cholesterol, and inhibited hepatic lipid accumulation. Ob-X supplementation was found to increase the hepatic mRNA levels of PPARα target enzymes responsible for fatty acid β-oxidation. Moreover, Ob-X elevated the endogenous expression of a luciferase reporter gene containing three copies of a PPAR response element (PPRE) in NMu2Li liver cells. These data demonstrate that Ob-X regulates body weight gain, adipose tissue mass, and lipid metabolism in part through changes in the expression of hepatic PPARα target genes.