Fatty Acid Synthase Inhibitors from Plants and Their Potential Application in the Prevention of Metabolic Syndrome

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) attracts more and more attention recently as a potential target for metabolic syndrome, such as cancer, obesity, diabetes and cerebrovascular disease. FAS inhibitors are widely existed in plants, consisting of diversiform compounds. These inhibitors exist not only in herbs also in many plant foods, such as teas, allium vegetables and some fruits. These effective components include gallated catechins, theaflavins, flavonoids, condensed and hydrolysable tannins, thioethers, pentacyclic triterpenes, stilbene derivatives, etc, and they target at the different domains of FAS, showing different inhibitory mechanisms. Interestingly, these FAS inhibitor-contained herbs and plant foods and their effective components are commonly related to the prevention of metabolic syndromes including fat-reducing and depression of cancer. From biochemical angle, FAS can control the balance between energy provision and fat production. Some studies have shown that the effects of those effective components in plants on metabolic syndromes are mediated by inhibiting FAS. This suggests that FAS plays a critical role in the regulation of energy metabolism, and the FAS inhibitors from plants have signifi cant potential application value in the treatment and prevention of metabolic syndromes