Plant-derived β-ecdysone (Ecd) has beneficial effects on the metabolic syndrome and on anaemia in ovariectomized rats

Ovariectomized (ovx) rats develop obesity and hypercholesterinaemia and are a good model for the study of the metabolic syndrome. We showed recently that the molting hormone Ecd increased bone and muscle mass in ovx rats despite unchanged body weight suggesting decreased total fat mass. Therefore we investigated the effects of Ecd (50mg/day) on obesity, serum cholesterol, LDL, HDL and on triglycerides and an oral glucose tolerance test (1g glucose/kg BW) was performed in ovx rats. In bone marrow the amount of hematopoietic (red) and fat (white) tissue was also determined. Ecd reduced fat tissue significantly com…