Effect of blueberry polyphenols on 3T3-F442A preadipocyte differentiation

Today obesity is an epidemic and its prevalence has increased significantly over the last few decades. To avoid excessive accumulation of fat, optimum energy intake along with regular exercise is mandatory. Polyphenols present in green tea, grape seeds, orange and grapefruit combat adipogenesis at the molecular level and also induce lipolysis. However, very little is known regarding the role of blueberry polyphenols on adipocyte differentiation. Hence we tested the dose-dependent effects of blueberry polyphenols on mouse 3T3-F442A preadipocyte differentiation and lipolysis. 3T3-F442A preadipocytes were incubated with three doses of blueberry polyphenols (BB-150, BB-200 and BB-250 μg/mL) and intracellular lipid content, cell proliferation and lipolysis were assayed. Blueberry polyphenols showed a dose-dependent suppression of adipocyte differentiation determined by oil red-O staining and adipored assay. Intracellular lipid content in control (11,385.51 ± 1169.6, relative fluorescence units) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the three doses of blueberry polyphenols (8336.86 ± 503.57), (4235.67 ± 323.17), and (3027.97 ± 346.61). This corresponds to a reduction of 27%, 63% and 74%, respectively. Cell proliferation was observed to be significantly high in control (0.744 ± 0.035, optical density units) than BB-150 (0.517 ± 0.031), BB-200 (0.491 ± 0.023), and BB-250 (0.455 ± 0.012). However, when tested for lipolysis, there was no significant difference observed among the groups. We conclude that blueberry polyphenols may play an effective role in inhibiting adipogenesis and cell proliferation.

Keywords: Obesity; adipocyte differentiation; polyphenols; Blueberry; cell proliferation; lipolysis