(Pall.) Kuntze (New Zealand Spinach) Prevents Obesity and Hyperuricemia in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice

(Pall.) Kuntze, called New Zealand spinach (NZS), is an edible plant used in salad in Western countries and has been used to treat gastrointestinal diseases in traditional medicine. We examined the anti-obesity and anti-hyperuricemic effects of NZS and the underlying mechanisms in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Mice were fed a normal-fat diet (NFD); high-fat diet (HFD); HFD with 75, 150, or 300 mg/kg NZS extract; or 245 mg/kg (GC) extract. NZS decreased body weight gain, total white adipose tissue (WAT), liver weight, and size of adipocytes and improved hepatic and plasma lipid profiles. With NZS, the plasma levels of the leptin and uric acid were significantly decreased while the levels of the adiponectin were increased. Furthermore, NZS decreased the expression levels of adipogenesis-related genes and xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR), which is involved in uric acid production, while increasing that of proteins associated with fatty acid oxidation. UPLC analysis revealed that NZS contained 6-methoxykaempferol-3--β-d-glucosyl(1'''→2'')-β-d-glucopyranoside, 6-methoxykaempferol-3--β-d-glucosyl(1'''→2'')-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(6''''-caffeoyl)-7--β-d-glucopyranoside, and 6,4'-dimethoxykaempferol-3--β-d-glucosyl(1'''→2'')-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(6''''-caffeoyl)-7--β-d-glucopyranoside. These results suggest that NZS exerts anti-obesity, anti-hyperlipidemia, and anti-hyperuricemic effects in HFD-induced obese mice, which are partly explained by regulation of lipid-metabolism-related genes and proteins and decreased expression of XOR.