August 31/Sendai, Japan/Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- "The effects of dietary Yamabushitake mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) on lipid metabolism were examined. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet containing hot-water extract (HW-E) and an ethanol extract (EtOH-E) of Yamabushitake mushroom," researchers in Sendai, Japan, report.
"Administration of HW-E or EtOH-E with a high-fat diet for 28 days resulted in a significant decrease in body weight gain, fat weight, and serum and hepatic triacylglycerol levels. Our in vitro experiments indicated that EtOH-E acts as an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR alpha). Quantitative analyses of hepatic mRNA levels revealed that EtOH-E administration resulted in up-regulation of mRNA for a number of PPAR alpha-regulating genes in spite of the fact that the gene expression of PPAR alpha did not change," wrote K. Hiwatashi and colleagues, Tohoku University.