Beneficial Effects by Intake of Euphausiacea pacifica on High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity

Obesity is a major health problem showing increased incidence in developed and developing countries. We examined the effect of Euphausia pacifica (E. pacifica) (Pacific Krill) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in C57BL/6 mice. No significant differences were observed in average food intake between the HFD and HFD with E. pacifica group, or the low-fat diet (LFD) and LFD with E. pacifica group for 18 weeks. The increased ratio of body weight in the HFD containing E. pacifica group was significantly reduced, being 10% lower than that with HFD group in the 18th week (HFD, 298.6 +/- 18.8% vs. HFD with E. pacifica, 267.8 +/- 16.2%; p<0.05), while the ratio for the LFD containing E. pacifica group was reduced by 4% compared with LFD group (LFD, 244.2 +/- 11.6% vs. LFD with E. pacifica, 234.1 +/- 18.0%). There were no effects of E. pacifica on total cholesterol levels in serum and liver, whereas the supplement of E. pacifica tended to decrease triglyceride levels in the HFD groups. The leptin level in serum was significantly decreased in the HFD group (p<0.01) by E. pacifica. The adipocyte area (1926 +/- 1275 mu m(2)) in the HFD containing E. pacifica group was significantly reduced by 20% (p<0.001) compared with the HFD group. These results suggested that E. pacifica supplementation in the diet is beneficial for the prevention of HFD-induced obesity.