Abstract

Background: In general, obesity refers to abnormal accumulation of fat associated with negative effects on health. It is a severe public health challenge in the 21st century in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in the world. Obesity results in reduced life expectancy and causes enormous economic and social problems. Therefore, the prevention and management of obesity is a key focus of population health. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to estimate the potential antiobesity effect of a methanolic leaf extract of Clinacanthus nutans (MECN) on high-fat diet-induced male mice by evaluating the body weight, visceral fat, and muscle saturated fatty acid (SFA) compositions (15.57%) (F = 16.24, P = 0.0001).
Materials and Methods: A total of 60 4-week-old male Institute of Cancer Research mice were randomly assigned into two groups. Group 1 consists of 10 mice that were fed with normal diet (NC), while Group 2 consists of 50 mice that were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) of 60% dietary energy from fat for 16 weeks. When these mice turned 20 weeks old, those in Group 2 were randomly assigned to five groups of 10 mice each, while animals from Group 1 continued to be fed with the Normal chow diet (NC). The five HFD groups derived from Group 2 were divided into mice treated with HFD only (HFDC), mice fed with an HFD and orlistat at 15.9 mg/kg (HFD + Orlistat). Mice in three other HFD groups were treated with MECN at 500 mg/kg (HFD + CN500), 1000 mg/kg (HFD + CN1000), and 1500 mg/kg (HFD + CN1500). All animals were then subjected to 21 days of the treatment.
Results: The results showed that the MECN significantly reduced (P < 0.05) the body weight (33.38 ± 1.12 g) (F = 2.46, P = 0.04), visceral fat (1.62 ± 0.27) (F = 6.39, P = 0.0002), and muscle saturated fatty acid compositions (15.57%) (F = 16.24, P = 0.0001), especially in mice fed with 1500 mg/kg of MECN compared to the HFDC group. Conclusion: Therefore, MECN is a potentially useful natural supplement for alleviating obesity and obesity-mediated metabolic diseases.