The rising global incidence of obesity underscores the urgent demand for effective therapeutic interventions. Natural products have emerged as promising alternatives; however, identifying candidates t Show more
The rising global incidence of obesity underscores the urgent demand for effective therapeutic interventions. Natural products have emerged as promising alternatives; however, identifying candidates that effectively target the complex mechanisms underlying obesity remains a critical challenge. In this study, the specialized metabolites of Dendrobium albosanguineum were investigated for their anti-obesity potential. Methanolic extraction was performed on the entire plant, followed by systematic fractionation and compound elucidation using mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A set of in vitro colorimetric assays was employed to assess pancreatic lipase inhibition, cytotoxicity, intracellular lipid storage, triglyceride content, and glycerol release in murine (3T3-L1) and/or human (PCS-210-010) adipocyte models. In addition, flow cytometry, western blotting analysis, and RT-qPCR were used to evaluate the effects of a chosen metabolite on cell cycle progression and the expression of adipogenesis-related genes and proteins. Eight metabolites were isolated, including bibenzyls (moscatilin, chrysotoxine), lignans (syringaresinol, foliachinenoside C), a sterol (daucosterol), a phenylpropanoid (n-octacosyl-trans-p-coumarate), and flavonoids (rhoifolin, kaempferol-3-O-(2″,6″-dirhamnosyl)glucoside). Among them, foliachinenoside C exhibited the most potent activity, with 94.77 ± 0.85% inhibition of pancreatic lipase (IC Show less