Cistanche promotes the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes

Cistanche deserticola Ma (cistanche) is a traditional herb which has widely pharmacological activities. However, the impact of cistanche on adipogenesis has not been demonstrated. The effect of cistanche promotes the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by using MTT spectrophotometry, Nile Red staining, Oil Red O staining and transcriptome sequencing technology. The results showed that the intracellular lipid content in cistanche treated cells were notably increased when compared with the non-treated cells. The expression of adipogenesis related genes including grow hormone releasing hormone (Ghrp), BCL2/adenovirus E1B interacting protein 3 (Bnip3) and Gastric inhibitory polypeptide receptor (Gipr) were significantly increased between differentiation and treatment group. Our data indicated that cistanche promote the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by encoding the cAMP pathway, the mitophagy signaling pathway, TORC2 mediated pathway and Akt-mediated pathway. This paper could also reveal new signaling pathways in the regulation of adipogenesis.