IBF-R, a botanical extract of Rhus verniciflua controls obesity in which AMPK-SIRT1 axis and ROS regulatory mechanism are involved in mice

Obesity is a major health concern worldwide and adds woes to the quality of life. Several natural herbs have been shown protective effects against obesity. Here, we investigated the protective effect of Rhus verniciflua extract (IBF-R) against obesity and the underlying mechanism in obese mice. IBF-R alleviated body weight, liver weight as well as adipose tissue weight without altering food intake. IBF-R extract reduced lipogenesis and adipogenesis in liver and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT). At the molecular level, AMPK-SIRT1 axis increased, and mTOR-SREBP1-ER stress axis decreased. In brown adipose tissue (BAT), IBF-R administration increased mitochondrial biogenesis and thermogenesis markers like PGC1α and UCP1 via AMPK-SIRT1 signaling and mTOR-SREBP1-ER stress-mitochondrial function axis. Moreover, IBF-R influenced the recovery of PGC1α deacetylation via SIRT1 activation. These observations suggest that IBF-R protects against obesity by playing multiple modulatory roles in liver steatosis, adipocyte metabolism, and BAT function mediated by AMPK-SIRT1 axis and ROS regulating pathways.