Effects of ID-alG™ on weight management and body fat mass in high-fat-fed rats.

Seaweed extract of Ascophyllum nodosum, ID-alG™, was evaluated for its chronic effects on weight management in high-fat-fed Sprague-Dawley rats. ID-alG™ was orally administered daily during 9 weeks at doses of 40 and 400 mg/kg/day with fat-enriched diet (FED) in comparison with two control groups consuming standard diet (negative control) or FED (positive control) and orally treated with vehicle. Body weight, percentage of body fat mass and lipid parameters were measured. After 9 weeks, the oral administration of ID-alG™ at both doses decreased significantly the mean body weight gains (MBWG) of rats submitted to the FED in comparison to the positive control (-6.8% and -11.8%). ID-alG™ at both doses improved significantly the MBWG of rats and decreased significantly the percentage of body fat mass of rats (-9.8% and -19.0%), in comparison to the positive control. In the same way, the triglyceride blood level was also significantly improved for the dose of 400 mg/kg/day (-30.6% vs. +49.9% for the positive control); and the dose of 40 mg/kg/day just lead to a trend. Moreover, in both controls and ID-alG™-treated groups, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL blood levels were not modified. The seaweed extract of Ascophyllum nodosum, ID-alG™, demonstrated beneficial effects on weight management of rats submitted to a high-fat diet.