Figure 5

Rg3 improves lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated blockage of beige thermogenesis with induction of mitochondrial function. Rg3 (2.5 mg/kg BW) was injected intraperitoneally into C57BL/6 mice for 8 weeks. LPS (7.5 μg/kg BW) was administrated to C57BL/6 mice every other day for 2 weeks. CL (1 mg/kg BW) was injected every day for 7 consecutive days; (A) Thermographic photo to measure heat production; (B) The temperature of the surface region of the mice; (C) Subcutaneous (SubQ) white adipose tissue (WAT) sections stained using hematoxylin and eosin (magnification, 20×; scale bars = 100 µm); (D) Relative mRNA expression levels of browning-related genes, including Ucp1, Pgc1α, and Cidea in the SubQ fat; (E) Immunoblots of UCP1, PGC1α, and OXPHOS complex I–V in C; (F) Relative mtDNA/nDNA levels in SubQ fat; (G) RT-PCR of the relative gene expression levels of Il-6, Il-1β, and Tnfα in SubQ fat; (H) The experimental scheme for isolation of SubQ fat-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Primary subcutaneous (SubQ) MSCs were induced to differentiate in the presence or absence of Rg3 for 4 days. then treated with LPS (100 ng/mL) for 72 h followed by cAMP (0.5 mM) stimulation for 4 h; (I) RT-PCR of the relative mRNA expression levels of Ucp1; (J) Immunoblots of TFAM, VDAC, and OXPHOS complex I–V; Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 2–6) and analyzed using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni's comparison test (CL + LPS vs CL + LPS + Rg3). Bars with different letters represent statistically significant differences. n.s. represents no significance, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.