Improving obesity and lipid metabolism using conjugated linoleic acid

BACKGROUND: Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) can prevent fatty acid accumulation induced by a high‐fructose diet and improve lipid metabolism disorders in patients. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the effect of CLA on obesity and lipid metabolism and its possible mechanism. METHODS: Eight‐month‐old male BKS.Cg‐Dock7(m) +/+ Lepr(db)/JNju (db/db) mice (n = 12) were fed a CLA mix composed of equivalent c9, t11‐CLA and t10, c12‐CLA for 1 month. The effect of CLA on body weight, water and food intake, and triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels was investigated. PPARα, PPARγ and CD36 expression was determined by quantitative PCR and western blotting. Additionally, the expression of these three genes was studied in HepG2 cells treated with CLA and linoleic acid. RESULTS: CLA treatment notably reduced the dietary and water intake of db/db mice, effectively reduced body weight, and decreased serum TG and TC levels (p < 0.05). Increased expression of PPARα (p < 0.05) and decreased expression of CD36 (p < 0.001) were observed in the liver of mice that were fed CLA. CLA increased PPARα expression (p < 0.001) and decreased PPARγ (p < 0.001) and CD36 expression (p < 0.01) in HepG2 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that CLA can improve lipid metabolism in obese mice through upregulation of PPARα expression and downregulation of CD36 expression.