Effect of green tea extract rich in epigallocatechin-3-gallate on hepatic metabolic biomarkers in mice treated with high fat diet

Abstract

The increase of body weight gain observed in the lasts decades pointed the obesity as a public health problem. The genese of the obesity is multifactorial, among others factors involving the intake of diet enriched with saturated fat acid. The obesity is associated with metabolic disease like a hepatic non alcoholic disease. It is enhanced the importance of alternative therapeutic methods to combat or prevent the obesity and associated diseases. Several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of phenolic compounds present in green tea, mainly epigallocatechin-3-gallate, positively acting on changes observed in metabolic diseases. However there are few studies that elucidate the possible effects of these bioactive compounds on metabolic biomarkers. One possibility is through the reduction on lipogenesis de novo and also by activating AMPK/LKB1 increasing the fatty acids oxidation process in liver. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the metabolic effects of the consumption of green tea extract rich in epigallocatechin-3-gallate in liver of mice fed with high fat diet. (AU)