A Systematic Review of the Potential Effects of Thylakoids in the Management of Obesity and Its Related Issues

ABSTRACT

Thylakoids, as the most abundant membranes on earth, are a part of the chloroplast and exist in all green plant cells. Recently, several studies have investigated the effects of thylakoid on obesity and overweight-related aspects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to systematically review the current knowledge and related researches to evaluate the effect of thylakoid intake on obesity and its related conditions management. PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, Embase, and ProQuest databases updated until November 2019 were searched using definite keywords and without time limitation for publications. All English language original articles (in vitro, experimental, and human studies) that investigated the effects of thylakoid on obesity-related issues, including weight loss, fat mass, and appetite or food intake, were considered. Suppressed hunger motivation, reduced food intake, and weight loss were major findings of these studies. According to these studies, the proposed beneficial properties of thylakoids were increased secretion of satiety hormones, reduced intestinal fat absorption, inhibited lipase/colipase activity, improved intestinal barrier function, modulated the gut microbiota, and probable anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Albeit current evidence supports the use of thylakoid as a complementary treatment in obesity; however, further long-term trials are required before definitive health claims can be made.

Abbreviations: 5-HT: Serotonin; BMI: Body Mass Index; CCK: Cholecystokinin, Cpt1a: Carnitine palmitoyl transferase1a; CVD: Cardiovascular disease; DGDGs: Digalactosyldiacylglycerols; Fat/Cd36: fatty acid translocase; FDA: United States Food and Drug Administration; GI: Gastrointestinal, GLP-1: Glucagon-like peptide-1; Hmgcs2: 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase 2; HFD: High-fat diet; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide; MGDGs: Monogalactosyl diacylglycerols; OGTT: Oral glucose tolerance test; OFTT: Oral fat tolerance/loading tests; PPARγ: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma; PYY: Peptide YY; RCTs: Randomized control trials; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; TCA cycle: Tricarboxylic acid cycle; TNF-alpha: Tumor necrosis factor; VAS:Visual analog scale

KEYWORDS:

• Thylakoids
• Thylakoid-rich Spinach Extract
• Obesity
• Weight loss
• Fat mass
• Appetite

Acknowledgments

This manuscript was drafted as a part of the literature review in the partial accomplishment of the prerequisites for the Ph.D. degree of the first author in Nutrition Science. We would also like to thank the Research vice-chancellor of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Science of the Tabriz University of Medical Science.

Conflicts of interest

The authors read and approved the final manuscript, and they have declared that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The study was financially granted by the Vice-Chancellor for Research, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran with the registration code of 59918, and Research Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran with the registration code of 61370.