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Effect of white tea consumption on serum leptin, TNF-α and UCP1 gene expression in ovariectomized rats

  • Original Research
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European Cytokine Network

Abstract

Background

Obesity and dyslipidemia due to estrogen deficiency are among the important health problems in menopausal women. Increasing evidence reports the anti-obesity and anti-hyperlipidemic properties of tea polyphenols. However, the effect of white tea (WT) with high polyphenol content on overweight and lipid profile is uncertain. Here, we aimed to examine the effects of long-term WT consumption on serum leptin, tumor necrosis factor- alpha (TNF-α) and uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) mRNA gene expression in ovariectomized (OVX) rats.

Methods

Adult rats were divided into four groups (n = 8): (i) sham, (ii) OVX, (iii) WT and (iv) OVX + WT. WT was given at a dose of 0.5% w/v for 12 weeks. In the study, body weight, serum leptin, TNF, estradiol (E2) levels, lipid profile and UCP1 mRNA gene expression in brown adipose tissue (BAT) were evaluated.

Results

There was a significant increase in body weight of OVX rats, which was decreased following WT consumption. While leptin and E2 levels decreased in the OVX group, TNF levels increased. There was no difference between the NF-κB levels of the groups. In addition, BAT UCP1 mRNA expression was significantly decreased in OVX groups, while WT treatment stimulated UCP1 activity.

Conclusion

We explain the stimulatory effect of WT on weight loss mainly by the induction of UCP1 gene-mediated thermogenesis and suppression of inflammation. Therefore, we suggest that prolonged WT consumption may have beneficial effects in limiting excess weight gain caused by estrogen deficiency.

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Acknowledgement

This study was funded by the RTE University Scientific Project Support Office (RTEUBAP, Project No: TSA-2017-816). We would like to thank the General Directorate of tea enterprises (CAYKUR) for the supply and analysis of tea samples.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

    Sinan Saral

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

    Faruk Saydam

  3. Faculty of Healthy Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Artvin Coruh University, Artvin, Turkey

    Eda Dokumacioglu

  4. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

    Mehtap Atak & Hüseyin Avni Uydu

  5. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

    Levent Tümkaya

Authors
  1. Sinan Saral
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  2. Faruk Saydam
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  3. Eda Dokumacioglu
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  4. Mehtap Atak
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  6. Hüseyin Avni Uydu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eda Dokumacioglu.

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Compliance with Ethical Standards

Ethics committee approval of the present study was obtained from the Experimental Animals Local Ethics Committee of RTE University (Protocol No: 2017/28).

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Saral, S., Saydam, F., Dokumacioglu, E. et al. Effect of white tea consumption on serum leptin, TNF-α and UCP1 gene expression in ovariectomized rats. Eur Cytokine Netw 32, 31–38 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2021.0467

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2021.0467

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