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BACKGROUND: Saponins have been shown to possess many pharmacological properties, including altered fat metabolism. The black sea cucumber, Holothuria leucospilota, is a marine animal that contains a specialized organ called a Cuvierian tubule that produces and secrete the bioactive saponins into the tubules and body wall. Therefore, the aims of this study are to investigate the anti‐obesity effect of saponins extracted from body wall and Cuvierian tubules of H. leucospilota. RESULTS: The butanol extracts of H. leucospilota body wall and Cuvierian tubules containing high amounts of saponins significantly reduced fat deposition and triglyceride levels in Caenorhabditis elegans fed with 50 mmol L−1 glucose. Moreover, the saponin‐enriched extracts of H. leucospilota significantly restored the lifespan of 2% glucose‐fed worms (18.71%). Green fluorescence protein‐labeled sbp‐1 gene expression and nuclear translocation of daf‐16 were also significantly decreased in H. leucospilota treatment. The saponin‐enriched extracts downregulated the messenger RNA expressions of genes involved in fat storage and metabolism, including sbp‐1, cebp, and daf‐16 but upregulated the expression of nhr‐49 gene. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that H. leucospilota‐derived saponins may mediate the reduction of glucose‐induced fat accumulation through sbp‐1, cebp, daf‐16 and nhr‐9 pathways. Therefore, the H. leucospilota extracts could be used as nutraceuticals for anti‐obesity prevention. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common aged-related neurodegenerative disorder that is associated with the toxic amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation in the brain. While the efficacies of available drugs against AD are still limited, natural products have been shown to possess neuroprotective potential for prevention and therapy of AD. This study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of H. scabra extracts against Aβ aggregation and proteotoxicity in C. elegans model of Alzheimer's diseases., Experimental Procedure: Whole bodies (WB) and body wall (BW) of H. scabra were extracted and fractionated into ethyl acetate (WBEA, BWEA), butanol (WBBU, BWBU), and ethanol (BWET). Then C. elegans AD models were treated with these fractions and investigated for Aβ aggregation and polymerization, biochemical and behavioral changes, and level of oxidative stress, as well as lifespan extension., Results and Conclusion: C. elegans AD model treated with H. scabra extracts, especially triterpene glycoside-rich ethyl acetate and butanol fractions, exhibited significant reduction of Aβ deposition. These H. scabra extracts also attenuated the paralysis behavior and improved the neurological defects in chemotaxis caused by Aβ aggregation. Immunoblot analysis revealed decreased level of Aβ oligomeric forms and the increased level of Aβ monomers after treatments with H. scabra extracts. In addition, H. scabra extracts reduced reactive oxygen species and increased the mean lifespan of the treated AD worms. In conclusion, this study demonstrated strong evidence of anti-Alzheimer effects by H. scabra extracts, implying that these extracts can potentially be applied as natural preventive and therapeutic agents for AD., Taxonomy Classification by Evise: Alzheimer's disease, Neurodegenerative disorder, Traditional medicine, Experimental model systems, Molecular biology., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflict of interest in this study., (© 2022 Center for Food and Biomolecules, National Taiwan University. Production and hosting by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.)