Fucoxanthin is a major carotenoid found in edible seaweed such as Undaria pinnatifida and Hijikia fusiformis. We investigated the suppressive effects of fucoxanthin and its metabolite, fucoxanthinol, on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes to adipocytes. Fucoxanthin inhibited intercellular lipid accumulation during adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. Furthermore, fucoxanthin was converted to fucoxanthinol in 3T3-L1 cells. Fucoxanthinol also exhibited suppressive effects on lipid accumulation and decreased glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, an indicator of adipocyte differentiation. The suppressive effect of fucoxanthinol was stronger than that of fucoxanthin. In addition, in 3T3-L1 cells treated with fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), which regulates adipogenic gene expression, was down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol inhibit the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells through down-regulation of PPARγ. Fucoxanthinol had stronger suppressive effects than fucoxanthin on adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells.

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