Olvanil inhibits adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells, reduces fat accumulation and improves lipidic profile on mice with diet-induced obesity

•Olvanil inhibits adipogenesis of preadipocytes 3T3-L1.•Olvanil reduces lipid accumulation and triglycerides in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.•Olvanil decreases fat accumulation in the body of mice with DIO.•Olvanil improve lipid profile in serum of mice with DIO. The present study is aimed to examine olvanil's effect in preadipocyte cell culture and on a murine model of diet-induced obesity. We hypothesized that olvanil by being a capsaicinoid will reduce the differentiation to mature adipocytes and reduce the weight of fat tissue in the studied mice. To determine the effect of olvanil on adipogenesis, 3T3-L1 cells were cultured. Oil red staining was performed to determine lipid accumulation, whereas triglycerides were measured by biochemical determination. Expression of PPAR-γ and PREF-1 were measured by RT-PCR. Therefore, male C57BL/6J mice (CICUAL:2018-020B) were fed with a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to develop a murine model of diet-induced obesity (DIO). Animals were separated into 6 experimental groups: control (standard diet), DIO (high-fat diet), DIO + orlistat (10 mg/kg), DIO + olvanil (10 mg/kg), DIO + olvanil (25 mg/kg) and DIO + olvanil (50 mg/kg), olvanil was administered for 4 weeks. Olvanil inhibits adipogenesis, reduces lipid accumulation and triglycerides in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. PPAR-ɣ gene expression was suppressed while PREF-1 was increased in adipocytes treated with olvanil. Whereas protein expression of FABP4 and PPAR-ɣ decreases significantly with olvanil. The results suggest that olvanil can inhibit the differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes through the overexpression or maintenance of PREF-1 levels and the suppression of PPAR-ɣ, and FABP4. Therefore, in diet-induced obesity in mice, olvanil decreases fat accumulation in the body and improve lipid profile by decreasing LDL, VLDL and triglycerides in serum. Olvanil inhibits adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells and reduces fat accumulation and ameliorate lipid profile in diet-induced obese mice. [Display omitted]