An active extract of Ulmus pumila inhibits adipogenesis through regulation of cell cycle progression in 3T3-L1 cells

► Ulmus pumila (UP) contains at least four different triterpenoids. ► UP affect the viability of adipocytes by causing G1 cell cycle arrest. ► UP down regulated lipid accumulation dose dependently in 3T3-L1 cell line. ► UP suppressed the expression of C/EBPα, PPARγ, SREBP-1c, FAS, C/EBPβ, C/EBPδ and NF-κβ. ► UP can be of interest as therapeutic agent for preventing or treating obesity. Obesity and its associated metabolic disorders has become a major obstacle in improving the average life span. In this regard therapeutic approach using natural compounds are currently receiving much attention. Herbal compounds rich in triterpenes are well known to regulate glucose and lipid metabolism. Here, we have found that Ulmus pumila (UP) contained at least four different triterpenoids and inhibited adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells. The cell viability was dose dependently decreased by UP showing the increase of cell accumulation in G1 phase while reducing in S and G2/M phase of cell cycle. UP treatment also significantly decreased the GPDH activity and intracellular lipid accumulation. In addition, UP inhibited the mRNA levels of adipogenic transcription factors and lipogenic genes such as PPARγ, C/EBPα, SREBP1c and FAS while showing no effects on C/EBP-β and C/EBP-δ. Importantly enough, treatment of cells with UP suppressed the TNF-α induced activation of NF-κB signaling. Collectively, our results indicate that UP extract effectively attenuated adipogenesis by controlling cell cycle progression and down regulating adipogenic gene expression.