Dietary Supplementation with Sea Cucumber Saponins and Exercise Can Significantly Suppress Adipose Accumulation in Mice Fed with High-Fat Diet

Dietary supplementation with sea cucumber saponins (SCS) and exercise have been confirmed to be effective in preventing the development of obesity and its related diseases. However, the combined effectiveness of these interventions has not been explored. Here, we studied whether the beneficial influences of exercise could be further enhanced by dietary supplementation with SCS in high-fat diet-fed KM (Kunming) mice. Mice were randomly divided into four groups, including the high-fat diet group (HF), the SCS group (HF-S), the exercise group (HF-E), and the combination of dietary SCS and exercise group (HF-S + E). There were eight mice in every group. The results demonstrated that the combination of dietary SCS and exercise could synergistically reduce fat accumulation. In particular, white adipose tissue decreased by 63% in the HF-S + E group compared with that in the HF group. SCS supplementation with exercise also improved peripheral markers, such as serum parameters and hepatic TG levels. Further mechanical testing indicated that the combined effects of dietary SCS and exercise on inhibiting fat accumulation might be attributed to the inhibition of lipid synthesis in the liver and the activation of lipolysis in white adipose tissue to increase energy consumption.