Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: Licorice flavonoids are readily obtained from the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer. In this study, the effects of licorice flavonoid dispersible tablets (LFT) on visceral fat accumulation, hyperglycemia, fatty liver, and related adipocytokines in high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6J mice were examined. The results showed that mice fed a high-fat diet exhibited a significant increase in fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, leptin level, visceral fat accumulation, and body weight, which were markedly inhibited after an 8-week treatment with LFT. Furthermore, LFT had a potential liver- protective effect and a dose-independent effect on suppressing adipocyte hypertrophy and promoting adipocyte differentiation. Therefore, these results suggest that LFT could be developed as a potential reagent to treat metabolic syndromes such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Key words: licorice flavonoids dispersible tablets (LFT), high-fat diet, C57BL/6J mice, obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome