Propolis Contains Anti-Obesity Ingredient

Propolis continues to generate surprising results. This new development determined a major component in propolis, CAPE, prevents the production of fat cells. The preventative effects of propolis continue to mount and this anti-obesity aspect will certainly merit future studies. Could this be tied to the epigenetic characteristic of propolis?

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester, a major component of propolis, suppresses high fat diet-induced obesity through inhibiting adipogenesis at mitotic clonal expansion stage

J Agric Food Chem, 2014 Mar 10

In the present study, we aimed to investigate anti-obesity effect of CAPE in vivo, and the mechanism by which CAPE regulates body weight in vitro. To confirm anti-obesity effect of CAPE in vivo, mice were fed with a high fat diet (HFD) with different concentrations of CAPE for 5 weeks. CAPE significantly reduced body weight gain and epididymal fat mass in obese mice fed a HFD.

In accordance with in vivo results, Oil red O staining results showed that CAPE significantly suppressed MDI-induced adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. FACS analysis results showed that CAPE delayed MDI-stimulated cell cycle progression, thereby contributing to inhibit mitotic clonal expansion (MCE) which is prerequisite step for adipogenesis. Also, CAPE regulated expression of cyclin D1 and phosphorylation of ERK and Akt which are upstream of cyclin D1.

These results suggest that CAPE exerts anti-obesity effect in vivo, presumably through inhibiting adipogenesis at early stage of adipogenesis