{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T20:25:52Z","timestamp":1791577552836,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,31]],"date-time":"2021-03-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1617148800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"National Research Foundation of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NRF-2020R1A2C1009008"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2020R1A2C1009008"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor larva) are an edible insect and a protein-rich food; however, research on mealworms as a substitute protein is insufficient. In this study, mealworm fermentation extract (TMP) was assessed as a replacement for soy protein (SP) in a control diet (CON) or a high-fat diet (HFD) of mice for 12 weeks. TMP substitution reduced body weight, body weight gain, body fat mass (perirenal and mesenteric), fat size, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance compared to the HFD-SP group. TMP alleviated hepatic steatosis (lipid contents and lipid droplets) in high-fat-fed mice and down-regulated the PPAR\u03b3, CD36, and DGAT2 gene levels. Proteomic analysis showed that a HFD for 12 weeks up-regulated 20 proteins and down-regulated 17 proteins in mice fed SP. On the other hand, TMP reversed the protein profiles. TMP significantly down-regulated KHK, GLO1, ATP5H, SOD, and DDAH1 and up-regulated DLD, Mup1, CPS1, Ces3b, PDI, and HYOU1 compared to the HFD-SP group. These proteins are involved in the glucose, lipid, and amino acid metabolism, as well as in oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Thus, substituting SP for TMP helped improve HFD-induced obesity, steatosis, and insulin resistance in mice. These results suggest that TMP is a potential substitute for commonly used protein sources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22073615","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,31]],"date-time":"2021-03-31T05:57:18Z","timestamp":1617170238000},"page":"3615","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Effects of Edible Insect Tenebrio molitor Larva Fermentation Extract as a Substitute Protein on Hepatosteatogenesis and Proteomic Changes in Obese Mice Induced by High-Fat Diet"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Ju Ri","family":"Ham","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ra-Yeong","family":"Choi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Agricultural Biology, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongjin","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6064-5295","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mi-Kyung","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 57922, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1038\/s41575-019-0145-7","article-title":"From NASH to HCC: Current concepts and future challenges","volume":"16","author":"Anstee","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. 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