Wednesday Aug 13, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study shows that sudachitin improves metabolism of glucose and lipid and boosts mitochondrial activity and increases the energy production and energy expenditure, and reduces weight gain.  This means taking sudachitin supplements may help type 2 diabetes and or obesity.

For the current study, mice fed a high fat diet with 40% fat were treated with 5 mg per kg sudachitin or placebo for 12 weeks.  Sudachitin is a polymethoxylated flavonoid isolated from the skin of the citrus sudachi fruit. 

As a result, sudachitin supplementation improved dyslipidemia and glucose tolerance and insulin resistance.  It also promoted energy expenditure and fatty acid beta-oxidation by boosting mitochondrial biogenesis and function.

Physiologically, sudachitin was found to increase the expression of Sirt1 and PGC-1α in the skeletal muscle.

The findings suggest that "sudachitin may improve dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome by improving energy metabolism. Furthermore, it also induces mitochondrial biogenesis to protect against metabolic disorders."

Reference

Nutr Metab (Lond). 2014 Jul 4;11:32.

Sudachitin, a polymethoxylated flavone, improves glucose and lipid metabolism by increasing mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle.

Tsutsumi R1, Yoshida T1, Nii Y2, Okahisa N2, Iwata S2, Tsukayama M2, Hashimoto R1, Taniguchi Y3, Sakaue H3, Hosaka T4, Shuto E1, Sakai T1.

1Department of Public Health and Applied and Nutrition, Institute of Health Bioscience, University of Tokushima, 3-18-15 Kuramoto, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.

2Tokushima Prefectural Industrial Technology Center, Tokushima, Japan.

3Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Institute of Health Bioscience, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan.

4Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Department of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan.