The Anti-Obesity Effect of Kaempferia Parviflora (KP) is Attributed to Leptin in Adipose Tissue

Kaempferia parviflora (KP) (black ginger) is a plant in Thailand known historically as Kurachai Dam. It belongs to the ginger family and was used as a remedy medicine. Its rhizomes were used to improve obesity, blood flow, inflammation, allergy, and gastrointestinal disorders. However, the mechanism of its anti-obesity effect has not been elucidated. In this study, our purpose was to explore the visceral fat reduction mechanism of KP in vivo. Five weeks old C57BL/6J male mice were used. The mice were fed for 8 weeks with a test food limited to 3 g/day/mouse. We divided the mice into 4 groups as follows: 1 normal diet group (controls), 2 high fat diet group (HFD), 3 high fat diet + 0.5% black ginger extract group (HFD + KP 0.5%), and 4 high fat diet + black ginger extract 1.0% group (HFD + KP 1.0%). At the end of the 8th week, the visceral fat of the mice was collected and weighed and the expression levels of adiponectin, leptin, IL-6, and IL-1β in adipose tissues were measured by RT-PCR. Leptin and IL-6 expressions were decreased with a significant difference between group 4 and group 2. Adiponectin expression was significantly higher in group 4 than in group 2. The present study indicated that the anti-obesity effect of KP in vivo normalizes the function of leptin by suppressing its resistance upon ingestion of high-fat meals and inhibits fat accumulation by thermogenesis in brown adipocytes.