ABSTRACT
The adipose mass in obese patients is responsible for the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 as well as unesterified fatty acids, which favor insulin resistance. Preventing the accumulation of triglycerides in adipose tissues and increasing the sensitivity of adipocytes and skeletal muscle cells to insulin with natural products constitutes one therapeutic strategy to prevent or manage insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome. Ethanol extract of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. and physical exercise protected rodents against high-fat diet-induced weight gain, whereby physical exercise per se mitigated weight gain and the extract itself had no activity implying an effect of increasing ability to burn calories. In adipocytes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ promotes triglycerides storage by increasing the expression of fatty acid-binding protein, acyl-CoA-binding protein, lipoprotein lipase and fatty acid translocase. The major enzymes involved in triglyceride homeostasis in adipocytes are endothelial lipoprotein lipase and hormone-sensitive lipase that have concerted opposite effects.
