Effect of Plant Extracts on Protein Changes During Adipogenesis: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Plant extracts are gaining popularity among researchers as alternatives from natural sources for the treatment of obesity and inhibition of adipogenic differentiation is one of the mechanisms targeted by these extracts. The main focus of this scoping review is to specifically identify the phytochemicals within the extracts, and the protein changes that occurred during adipogenesis when subjected to the various plant extracts as well as to identify the gaps in the previous studies. A systematic search was conducted using predetermined keywords on three online databases (SCOPUS, PubMed, and ScienceDirect). Overall, a total of 988 articles were retrieved, leaving only 43 articles after applying the exclusion criteria. The selected studies looked at the effects of phytochemicals found in plant extracts on the alterations in adipogenesis-related proteins that results in adipocyte differentiation inhibition mainly in 3T3-L1 cells and mice. Despite plant extracts being the basis of numerous hyperlipidemic treatments, not much is focused on the changes in adipogenic proteins such as PPARs, CEBPs, or SREBPs. Thus, in this review, we discuss how the plant extracts aid in obesity prevention, and possible further research required to fully utilize the natural sources for the betterment of public health.