Zingiber o‹cinale Roscoe has been used as a folk medicine in China. An aqueous extract of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe inhibited the hydrolysis of triolein emulsiˆed with phosphatidylcholine by pancreatic lipase in vitro and it reduced the elevation of rat plasma triacylglycerol levels 1 and 2 h after oral administration of a lipid emulsion containing corn oil. These results suggest that the aqueous extract of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe might inhibit the intestinal absorption of dietary fat by inhibiting its

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... olysis. Therefore we investigated the antiobesity eŠects of the aqueous extract of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe by feeding a high-fat diet to mice for 8 weeks. Body weights at 2-8 weeks andˆnal parametrial adipose tissue weights were signiˆcantly lower in mice fed the high-fat diet containing 3% aqueous extract of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe than in the controls fed the high-fat diet. Feeding a high-fat diet containing 1% aqueous extract of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe also signiˆcantly reducedˆnal parametrial adipose tissue weights that were elevated in mice fed the high-fat diet alone. Our data suggest that the antiobesity eŠect of aqueous extract of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe in mice fed a high-fat diet may be due in part to the inhibition of intestinal absorption of dietary fat by the active compounds of Z. o‹cinale Roscoe.