INHIBITORY ACTIVITIES OF POLYPHENOL-RICH SORGHUM BRAN EXTRACTS ON OBESITY-RELATED DISEASES; BREAST CANCER, DIABETES, AND MUSCLE DAMAGES

Abstract

Obesity remains a leading global cause of mortality, with its prevalence continuing to rise. Functional food products represent a promising strategy for mitigating obesity and its associated disorders, and sorghum has emerged as a potential candidate due to its high polyphenol content and reported anti-obesity properties. Despite this potential, sorghum remains underutilized in human diets, and its biological activities related to obesity are not well characterized. This study investigates the effects of polyphenol-rich sorghum bran extracts (SBE) on obesity-related diseases. The findings demonstrate that SBE significantly inhibited the proliferation of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells by inducing apoptosis, arresting the cell cycle at the G2/M phase, enhancing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and promoting mitochondrial dysfunction and autophagy. Additionally, SBE exhibited anti-diabetic activity by improving insulin tolerance in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and enhancing glucose uptake in murine myoblast cells. SBE also conferred antioxidant protection in myoblasts exposed to oxidative stress by attenuating apoptosis and S-phase arrest, reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and suppressing ER stress and autophagy. Collectively, these results suggest that polyphenol-rich sorghum products may serve as an effective dietary approach for addressing obesity and its related metabolic disorders.