The role of fat tissue as an endocrine organ, central to the synthesis of various hormones is - next to its close association to several metabolic diseases particularly in those suffering from obesity- a focus for a large body of ongoing research.
Given the various reported effects of herbal substances on several organ systems, the effects of herbal substances on adipose tissue is a promising, yet insufficiently explored area of research. A major goal of this dissertation is to explore the impact of herbal substances on adipocyte differentiation.
In a first step (screening phase) the research for this dissertation will aim to investigate the impact of herbal substances on adipocyte differentiation by examining the effects of selected plants on adipocytes prior to differentiation. In a second step (model development) the research will use the insights from the screening phase to development of a cell model. In this phase effective ethanolic extracts, based on the current knowledge of adipocyte metabolism and the established interactions with other herbal compounds, will be investigated. For this, the well-known cell model, the murine 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, is used. Several extracts showed positive effects but especially the family of Rutaceae showed very good results on adipocyte differentiation in the first tests.
This phase will also cover the approach to the fractionation of these extracts, the isolation of active single compounds and the study of the underlying mechanisms. The last phase of the proposed research will focus on identification of the active substances.