Ameliorating Effect of Ginkgolide B on Obese Mice

This study aims to explore the effect of ginkgolide B (GB) on obese mice. An obese C57BL/6J mice model was induced by high-fat diet firstly, and then the obese mice were divided into 4 groups according to body weight randomly: Positive model group (PG), GB low dose group (GBL), GB medium dose group (GBM) and GB high dose group (GBH). After 8-week intervention, the obesity-related indexes (weight change, visceral fat coefficient and serum indexes) of mice in each group were measured. Results showed that the weight gain of mice in GBM and GBH were significantly decreased than in PG (P<0.05), and the visceral fat coefficient of mice in GBH group was also reduced significantly (P<0.05) after GB treatment. Meanwhile, the serum indexes (TG, TC, LDL-C and HDL-C) of mice in GBM and GBH were obviously improved, especially in GBH. Besides, histopathologic findings showed that liver fat deposition was apparently reduced in GBM and GBH. Furthermore, qRT-PCR results showed that the mRNA expression level of PPARγ in liver of mice in GBM and GBH was significantly decreased (P<0.05) in comparison with PG, while the mRNA expression level of UCP-2 was significantly increased (P<0.05). In summary, this study demonstrated that GB of medium and high doses improved obesity in mice, and this ameliorating effect might be related to PPARγ-UCP-2 signaling pathway.