{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T07:59:10Z","timestamp":1791446350932,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,14]],"date-time":"2021-07-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1626220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004663","name":"Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MOST-107-2320-B-182-016-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST-107-2320-B-182-016-MY3"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012553","name":"Chang Gung Memorial Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CMRPD1K0051-2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CMRPD1K0051-2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012553","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomolecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Curcumin is a known anti-adipogenic agent for alleviating obesity and related disorders. Comprehensive comparisons of the anti-adipogenic activity of curcumin with other curcuminoids is minimal. This study compared adipogenesis inhibition with curcumin, demethoxycurcumin (DMC), and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC), and their underlying mechanisms. We differentiated 3T3-L1 cells in the presence of curcuminoids, to determine lipid accumulation and triglyceride (TG) production. The expression of adipogenic transcription factors and lipogenic proteins was analyzed by Western blot. A significant reduction in Oil red O (ORO) staining was observed in the cells treated with curcuminoids at 20 \u03bcM. Inhibition was increased in the order of curcumin &lt; DMC &lt; BDMC. A similar trend was observed in the detection of intracellular TG. Curcuminoids suppressed differentiation by downregulating the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor \u03b3 (PPAR\u03b3) and CCAAT\/enhancer-binding protein \u03b1 (C\/EBP\u03b1), leading to the downregulation of the lipogenic enzymes acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS). AMP-activated protein kinase \u03b1 (AMPK\u03b1) phosphorylation was also activated by BDMC. Curcuminoids reduced the release of proinflammatory cytokines and leptin in 3T3-L1 cells in a dose-dependent manner, with BDMC showing the greatest potency. BDMC at 20 \u03bcM significantly decreased leptin by 72% compared with differentiated controls. Molecular docking computation indicated that curcuminoids, despite having structural similarity, had different interaction positions to PPAR\u03b3, C\/EBP\u03b1, and ACC. The docking profiles suggested a possible interaction of curcuminoids with C\/EBP\u03b1 and ACC, to directly inhibit their expression.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biom11071025","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,14]],"date-time":"2021-07-14T10:13:42Z","timestamp":1626257622000},"page":"1025","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["The Demethoxy Derivatives of Curcumin Exhibit Greater Differentiation Suppression in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes Than Curcumin: A Mechanistic Study of Adipogenesis and Molecular Docking"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3372-4545","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmed","family":"Alalaiwe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2114-7709","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jia-You","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmaceutics Laboratory, Graduate Institute of Natural Products, Chang Gung University, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"},{"name":"Research Center for Food and Cosmetic Safety and Research Center for Chinese Herbal Medicine, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hsien-Ju","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmaceutics Laboratory, Graduate Institute of Natural Products, Chang Gung University, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9800-2677","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chun-Hui","family":"Chiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Food and Cosmetic Safety and Research Center for Chinese Herbal Medicine, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"},{"name":"Graduate Institute of Health Industry Technology, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ching-Yun","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center for Food and Cosmetic Safety and Research Center for Chinese Herbal Medicine, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1016\/j.metabol.2018.09.005","article-title":"The epidemiology of obesity","volume":"92","author":"Chooi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Metab. 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