Researchers studying cinnamaldehye (CA), the flavonoid in cinnamon that gives it its flavor and scent, have revealed the cellular mechanism for how the compound protects against obesity in mice models. The team wanted to understand the cellular process and if the spice might also be protective in humans. Their findings were recently published in the journal Metabolism.
The team treated both primary murine adipocytes and human adipose stem cells with CA. The results shows that the Protein Kinase A signaling pathway was activated and genes involved in thermogenesis were upregulated when treated with CA. It was also shown that cells deficient in a metabolic-related gene regained metabolic function upon treatment with cinnamaldehyde. In addition, the researchers observed that human stem cells from donors of various ethnicities and ages with a wide range of body mass indexes (BMI) responded to CA treatment.
"Scientists were finding that this compound affected metabolism," said Jun Wu, research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute (LSI). "So we wanted to figure out how—what pathway might be involved, what it looked like in mice and what it looked like in human cells."
The study concluded that cinnamaldehyde acts directly on fat cells inducing thermogenesis, the conversion of stored energy into heat. This is an important finding for obesity researchers looking for potential treatments that are already part of our natural food supply to activate fat-burning processes.
"Cinnamon has been part of our diets for thousands of years, and people generally enjoy it," Wu said. "So if it can help protect against obesity, too, it may offer an approach to metabolic health that is easier for patients to adhere to."