Several natural compounds exhibit strong capacity for decreasing triglyceride accumulation, enhancing lipolysis
and inducing apoptosis. The present study reports the anti-adipogenic effects of Silybum marianum (SL), Citrus
aurantium (CA), Taraxacum officinale (TO), resveratrol (RE), Curcuma longa (CU), caffeine (CF), oleuropein
(OL) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in reducing differentiation and increasing lipolysis and apoptosis. Analyses
were performed on human primary visceral pre-adipocytes after 10 (P10) and 20 (P20) days of treatment
during differentiation and on mature adipocytes after 7 days of treatment (A7). The percentage of apoptosis induced
by TO extract in P10 and P20 cells was significantly higher than that induced by all other compounds and
in CTRL cells. Triglyceride accumulation was significantly lower in cells treated with DHA, CF, RE in comparison
to cells treated with OL and in CTRL cells. Treatments with CF, DHA and OL significantly incremented
lipolysis in P20 cells in comparison to other compounds and in CTRL cells. On the contrary, the treatment of A7
cells with OL, CA and TO compounds significantly increased cell lipolysis. The addition of CF in differentiating
P20 pre-adipocytes significantly increased the expression of genes involved in inhibition of adipogenesis, such
as GATA2, GATA3, WNT1, WNT3A, SFRP5, and DLK1. Genes involved in promoting adipogenesis such as
CCND1, CEBPB and SREBF1 were significantly down-regulated by the treatment. The screening of bioactive
compounds for anti-adipogenic effects showed that in differentiating cells TO extract was the most effective in
inducing apoptosis and CF and DHA extracts were more efficient in inhibition of differentiation and in induction
of cell lipolysis