AUTHOR=Barbagallo Ignazio , Vanella Luca , Cambria Maria T. , Tibullo Daniele , Godos Justyna , Guarnaccia Laura , Zappalà Agata , Galvano Fabio , Li Volti Giovanni 

TITLE=Silibinin Regulates Lipid Metabolism and Differentiation in Functional Human Adipocytes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2015.00309

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2015.00309

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Silibinin, a natural plant flavonolignan is the main active constituent found in milk thistle (<italic>Silybum marianum</italic>). It is known to have hepatoprotective, anti-neoplastic effect, and suppresses lipid accumulation in adipocytes. Objective of this study was to investigate the effect of silibinin on adipogenic differentiation and thermogenic capacity of human adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells. Silibinin (10 μM) treatment, either at the beginning or at the end of adipogenic differentiation, resulted in an increase of SIRT-1, PPARα, Pgc-1α, and UCPs gene expression. Moreover, silibinin administration resulted in a decrease of PPARγ, FABP4, FAS, and MEST/PEG1 gene expression during the differentiation, confirming that this compound is able to reduce fatty acid accumulation and adipocyte size. Our data showed that silibinin regulated adipocyte lipid metabolism, inducing thermogenesis and promoting a brown remodeling in adipocyte. Taken together, our findings suggest that silibinin increases UCPs expression by stimulation of SIRT1, PPARα, and Pgc-1α, improved metabolic parameters, decreased lipid mass leading to the formation of functional adipocytes.</p>