Anti-obesity activity of gold nanoparticles synthesized from Salacia chinensis modulates the biochemical alterations in high-fat diet-induced obese rat model via AMPK signaling pathway

Salacia chinensis (SC) is generally known as Saptrangi, which has been used as an herb in Ayurvedic medicine and has a broad range of biological applications. The current research was planned to develop Salacia chinensis-loaded gold nanoparticles (SC-AuNPs) and to assess the anti-obesity parameters in a high-fat diet (HFD) treated obese rats. SC-AuNPs were synthesized and characterized using UV–visible spectroscopy, SEM, FTIR, EDX, XRD, and TEM. Furthermore, the bodyweight changes, BMI, adipose index, leptin, resistin, adiponectin, AI, CRI, liver marker enzymes, inflammatory markers, lipid profile, AMPK signaling proteins, and liver histopathological changes were analyzed. We observed that the synthesized SC-AuNPs had a spherical shape, crystalline nature, and possessed a different functional group. The SC-AuNPs treatments also decreased body weight, BMI, adipose index, leptin, resistin, AI, CRI, liver marker enzymes, lipid profile, inflammatory markers, and AMPKα1. On the other hand, SC-AuNPs treatment increased adiponectin, HDL-C, and pAMPKα1. The histopathological findings showed improved result with reduced hepatocyte degradation under the influence of SC-AuNPs treatment.