Abstract:
This invention relates to a pet food composition for regulating body weight and preventing obesity and related disorders in pets, which comprises as an active ingredient at least one plant or plant extract having the ability to stimulate energy expenditure and/or fat burning. The invention also relates to a method for improving the health of pets, particularly by preventing obesity and metabolic disorders associated with obesity in pets. It also relates to a method for increasing energy expenditure, controlling the glucose homeostasis and improving activity or mobility of the pet.

Description:
[0001]     This invention relates to a pet food composition for regulating body weight and preventing obesity and related disorders in pets. The invention also relates to a method for improving the health of pets, particularly by preventing obesity and metabolic disorders associated with obesity in pets. It also relates to a method for increasing energy expenditure, control the glucose homeostasis and improve activity or mobility of the pet.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Obesity is caused by insufficient exercise or habitual hyperphagia, or by metabolic disturbance due to genetic causes or endocrine diseases and other. Obesity may be a risk factor that causes various diseases.  
         [0003]     Therefore, early therapeutic and preventive treatment of obesity is very important. Diet therapies or exercise therapies have been applied heretofore as the treatment of mild obesity, and drug therapies are sometimes used for serious obesity in combination with these therapies.  
         [0004]     More recently, the stimulation by synthetic agonists of the β3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR), which is an atypical beta-adrenergic receptor expressed essentially in adipose tissues, has been shown to produce anti-obesity and anti-diabetic effects in rodents and in dogs (Sasaki et al. 1998, J. Vet. Med. Sci. 60(4): 459-463). In human, β3-AR is expressed at low levels and its pharmacological properties differ from rodents and dogs.  
         [0005]     However, there is a need for a non-detrimental and efficient nutritional way of regulating body weight of pets and treating or preventing obesity, weight gain and related disorders.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a pet food composition intended for the treatment and/or the prevention of obesity and/or related disorders, which comprises as an active ingredient at least one plant or plant extract having the ability to stimulate energy expenditure and/or fat burning.  
         [0007]     In another aspect, the invention relates to the use of a plant or plant extract as described above, for the preparation of a composition intended for the treatment and/or the prevention of obesity and/or related disorders in pets.  
         [0008]     It also relates to the use of a plant or plant extract as described above, for the preparation of a composition intended for controlling the glucose homeostasis.  
         [0009]     It further relates to the use of a plant or plant extract as described above, for the preparation of a composition intended for improving activity and/or mobility of a pet by an improved stamina.  
         [0010]     In addition, the invention provides a method for the treatment and/or prophylaxis of obesity and/or related disorders of pets, comprising the step of feeding a pet with a pet food composition containing at least one plant or plant extract having the ability to stimulate energy expenditure and/or fat burning, as an active ingredient.  
         [0011]     The invention further provides a method of controlling the glucose homeostasis of a pet, comprising the step of feeding a pet with a pet food composition containing at least one plant or plant extract as described above.  
         [0012]     It also provides a method of increasing activity and/or mobility in a pet, comprising the step of feeding a pet with a pet food composition containing at least one plant or plant extract as described above.  
         [0013]     Administering to a pet, a food composition as described above, results in an improved regulation of body weight, thus treating or preventing obesity and/or related disorders in pets. This food composition increases energy expenditure, lipolysis and lipid oxidation and consequently reduces the mass of white adipose tissue and the total body weight. Furthermore the increase in glucose utilisation improves the glucose homeostasis.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     With respect to the first object of the present invention, a pet food composition intended for the treatment and/or the prevention of obesity and/or related disorders, which comprises as an active ingredient at least one plant or plant extract having the ability to stimulate energy expenditure and/or fat burning, is concerned.  
         [0015]     The plant or plant extract according to the invention has been selected for its ability to stimulate energy expenditure and/or fat burning in adipose tissue of pets. In particular, it may be selected for its ability to stimulate the adrenergic receptors.  
         [0016]     In a preferred embodiment, the said plant or plant extract may contain a natural source of β3-adrenergic receptor agonist.  
         [0017]     The plant according to the invention may be from any part of a plant source (e.g. leaves, tubers or roots), grains, embryos of some plant species (e.g. maize embryo) or plants or plant parts after processing (e.g. processed potatoes), for example.  
         [0018]     In a preferred embodiment, the plants and plant parts may be seeds of  Medicago sativa , leaves of  Capsicum  species, leaves or tubers of  Cyperus  species, tubers of  Iris Pallida  or roots of  Coleus  species or a mixture thereof, for example.  
         [0019]     The plant or plant extract according to the invention may be used in the preparation of a pet food composition. The said composition may be administered to the pet as a supplement to its normal diet or as a component of a nutritionally complete pet food, and more preferably in an hypocaloric pet food. It may also be a pharmaceutical composition.  
         [0020]     The plant or plant extract may be used alone or in association with other bioactive molecule such as antioxidants, milk hydrolysates, for example.  
         [0021]     Preferably, the pet food composition contains about 0.03 to 0.3 g of dry plants per gram of dry pet food for a 15 kg dog; and 0.007 to 0.075 g of dry plants per gram of wet pet food for a 15 kg dog.  
         [0022]     The nutritionally complete pet food composition according to the invention may be in powdered, dried form or a wet, chilled or shelf stable pet food product. These pet foods may be produced by ways known in the art. Apart from the plant or plant extract, these pet foods may include any one or more of a starch source, a protein source and a lipid source.  
         [0023]     Suitable starch sources are, for example, grains and legumes such as corn, rice, wheat, barley, oats, soy, and mixtures of these.  
         [0024]     Suitable protein sources may be selected from any suitable animal or vegetable protein source; for example meat and meal, poultry meal, fish meal, soy protein concentrates, milk proteins, gluten, and the like. For elderly animals, it is preferred for the protein source to contain a high quality protein.  
         [0025]     Suitable lipid sources include meats, animal fats and vegetable fats.  
         [0026]     The choice of the starch, protein and lipid sources will be largely determined by the nutritional needs of the animal, palatability considerations, and the type of product applied. For elderly pets, the pet food preferably contains proportionally less fat than pet foods for younger pets. Furthermore, the starch sources may include one or more of rice, barley, wheat and corn.  
         [0027]     The pet food may optionally also contain a prebiotic, a probiotic micro-organism or another active agent, for example a long chain fatty acid. The amount of prebiotic in the pet food is preferably less than 10% by weight. For example, the prebiotic may comprise about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the pet food. For pet foods which use chicory as the source of the prebiotic, the chicory may be included to comprise about 0.5% to about 10% by weight of the feed mixture; more preferably about 1% to about 5% by weight.  
         [0028]     If a probiotic micro-organism is used, the pet food preferably contains about 10 4  to about 10 10  cells of the probiotic micro-organism per gram of the pet food; more preferably about 10 6  to about 10 8  cells of the probiotic micro-organism per gram. The pet food may contain about 0.5% to about 20% by weight of the mixture of the probiotic micro-organism; preferably about 1% to about 6% by weight; for example about 3% to about 6% by weight.  
         [0029]     Suitable long chain fatty acids include linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, gamma linolenic acid, eicosapentanoic acid, and docosahexanoic acid. Fish oils are a suitable source of eicosapentanoic acids and docosahexanoic acid. Borage oil, blackcurrent seed oil and evening primrose oil are suitable sources of gamma linoleic acid. Safflower oils, sunflower oils, corn oils and soybean oils are suitable sources of linoleic acid.  
         [0030]     If necessary, the pet food is supplemented with minerals and vitamins so that they are nutritionally complete. Further, various other ingredients, for example, sugar, salt, spices, seasonings, flavouring agents, and the like may also be incorporated into the pet food as desired.  
         [0031]     For dried pet food a suitable process is extrusion cooking, although baking and other suitable processes may be used. When extrusion cooked, the dried pet food is usually provided in the form of a kibble. If a prebiotic is used, the prebiotic may be admixed with the other ingredients of the dried pet food prior to processing. A suitable process is described in European patent application No 0850569. If a probiotic micro-organism is used, the organism is preferably coated onto or filled into the dried pet food. A suitable process is described in European patent application No 0862863.  
         [0032]     For wet food, the processes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,781,939 and 5,132,137 may be used to produce simulated meat products. Other procedures for producing chunk type products may also be used; for example cooking in a steam oven. Alternatively, loaf type products may be produced by emulsifying a suitable meat material to produce a meat emulsion, adding a suitable gelling agent, and heating the meat emulsion prior to filling into cans or other containers.  
         [0033]     The amount of pet food to be consumed by the pet to obtain a beneficial effect will depend on the size of the pet, the type of pet, and age of the pet. However, an amount of the pet food to provide a daily amount of about 0.5 to 5 g of dry plants per kg of body weight, would usually be adequate for dogs and cats.  
         [0034]     Administering to a pet, a food composition as described above, results in an improved regulation of body weight, thus treating or preventing obesity and/or related disorders in pets. This composition has a beneficial impact on the stimulation of energy expenditure in pets. It also increases lipolysis and lipid oxidation and consequently reduces the mass of white adipose tissue and the total body weight.  
         [0035]     It may also be efficient in the control of the glucose homeostasis, which aims to prevent the development of diabetes, for example. It may further be used to improve stamina, which results in a better activity or mobility of the pet. 
     
    
       [0036]     The following examples are given by way of illustration only and in no way should be construed as limiting the subject matter of the present application. All percentages are given by weight unless otherwise indicated. The examples are preceded by a brief description of the figures.  
         [0037]      FIG. 1 : β3 adrenoreceptor activity (percentage of control) of  Capsicum  species extracts, A:  Capsicum annuum  var.  Sereno  (250 μg/ml) and B:  Capsicum frutescens  (250 μg/ml).  
         [0038]      FIG. 2 : β3 adrenoreceptor activity of 4 fractions of  Cyperus rotondus  (250 μg/ml), 1: Hexane extract, 2: Ethyl acetate extract after HCl hydrolysis, 3: Methanol/H 2 O extract, 4: as 3 but w/o polyphenols.  
         [0039]      FIG. 3 : effects of different doses of the hexane extract of  Cyperus rotondus  on β3 adrenoreceptor activity.  
         [0040]      FIG. 4 : β3 adrenoreceptor activity of  Medicago Sativa /Ethyl acetate extract (A) and  Iris Pallida /Hexane extract (B). 
     
    
     EXAMPLE 1  
     β3 Adrenoreceptor Activity of  Capsicum  Species Extracts  
       [heading-0041]     Material &amp; Methods  
         [0042]     Four different extracts were prepared as described below from dried  Capsicum  leaves: 
    (1) Hexane extract: Lipids, sterols, mono and diterpenes, aliphatic hydrocarbures, aliphatic alcools . . .     (2) Ethyl acetate extract after HCl hydrolysis: Flavones, flavonols, quinones, organic acids, phenol acids, coumarines, lactones, low subsitued di-tri- and tetra-terpenes, sterols, pigments, alkaloids, lignans.     (3) Methanol/H 2 O extract: heterosides from the aglycones present in the extract (2), polyphenols, carbohydrates, hydrosoluble alkaloids, small peptides, amino acids, anthocyanosides . . .     (4) as (3) but w/o polyphenols. PVPP columns    
 
         [0047]     The β3 adrenoreceptor activity was measured by incubating plant extracts for 1 hour with differentiated rodent preadipocytes previously loaded with [ 14 C] Acetate. Isoproterenol, a non-specific β adrenoreceptor agonist, was used at 1 μM as a positive control. The culture medium was collected at the end of the incubation and the released-labelled fatty acids were counted with a gamma counter. The cpm counted was normalised with the protein content per well. The values are expressed as percentage of the control value.  
         [heading-0048]     Results.  
         [0049]     The results are given in  FIG. 1 , which shows that the extracts of  Capsicum Sereno  and  Frutescens  have a significant effect on β3-adrenoreceptor activity.  
       EXAMPLE 2  
     Presence of β3 Adrenergic Agonists in  Cyperus Rotondus  and Alfalfa  
       [heading-0050]     Methods  
         [0051]     Binding assay was performed on membranes of rat adipose tissue. Membrane were incubated for 90 min at 37° C. in the presence of [ 125 ,] cyanopindolol, a β3 adrenergic agonist, and the plant extracts tested at 250 μg/ml. Following incubation, the membranes were rapidly filtered under vacuum though glass fibre filters. Filters were then washed several times with an ice-cold buffer and bound radioactivity was measured. Results are expressed as a percent inhibition of control values obtained in the presence of plant extracts.  
         [heading-0052]     Results  
         [0053]     The extracts of  Cyperus Rotondus  and  Medicago Sativa  were able to inhibit by and 66% and 44% the binding of [ 125 I] cyanopindolol, respectively.  
         [0054]     These results clearly show that these plant extracts contain compounds able to bind to the β3 adrenergic receptors.  
       EXAMPLE 3  
     β3 Adrenoreceptor Activity of  Cyperus Rotondus, Medicago Saliva  and  Iris Pallida  Extracts  
       [heading-0055]     Material &amp; Methods  
         [0056]     Four different extracts were prepared as described in example 1 from  Cyperus  leaves. The β3 adrenoreceptor activity was measured by incubating plant extracts for 1 hour with differentiated rodent preadipocytes previously loaded with [ 14 C] Acetate. Isoproterenol, a non-specific β adrenoreceptor, was used at 1 μM as a positive control. The culture medium was collected at the end of the incubation and the released-labelled fatty acids were counted with a gamma counter. The cpm counted was normalised with the protein content per well. The values are expressed as percentage of the control value.  
         [heading-0057]     Results.  
         [0058]     The results are given in  FIGS. 2 and 3 .  FIG. 2  shows that the 4 extracts prepared as described in Materials and Methods of example 1 have an effect on β3 adrenoreceptor activity.  FIG. 3  shows the effects of different doses of the hexane extract of  Cyperus rotondus  on β3 adrenoreceptor activity. The β3 adrenoreceptor activity of 250 μg/ml of  Medicago Sativa  (A) and  Iris Pallida  (B) extracts is illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  
       EXAMPLE 4  
     Dry Pet Food  
       [0059]     A feed mixture is made up of about 58% by weight of corn, about 5.5% by weight of corn gluten, about 22% by weight of chicken meal, 2.5% dried chicory, about 10% of  capsicum  leaves, salts, vitamins and minerals making up the remainder.  
         [0060]     The feed mixture is fed into a preconditioner and moistened. The moistened feed is then fed into an extruder-cooker and gelatinised. The gelatinised matrix leaving the extruder is forced through a die and extruded. The extrudate is cut into pieces suitable for feeding to dogs, dried at about 110° C. for about 20 minutes, and cooled to form pellets.  
         [0061]     This dry dog food is able to control weight of dogs and increase their mobility.  
       EXAMPLE 5  
     Wet Canned Pet Food with Supplement  
       [0062]     A mixture is prepared from 73% of poultry carcass, pig lungs and beef liver (ground), 16% of wheat flour, 2% of dyes, vitamins, and inorganic salts. This mixture is emulsified at 12° C. and extruded in the form of a pudding, which is then cooked at a temperature of 90° C. It is cooled to 30° C. and cut in chunks. 45% of these chunks are mixed with 55% of a sauce prepared from 98% of water, 1% of dye, and 1% of guar gum. Tinplate cans are filled and sterilised at 125° C. for 40 min.  
         [0063]     As a supplement to be mixed with the pet-food before serving, additional packaging (e.g. sachet) contains 25 g of powdered  Capsicum  leaves to be added to the daily food. The corresponding amount for the pet is about 25 g/day and this can be supplied as a supplement with (e.g. on top of) the can.  
         [0064]     This pet food helps to control weight of dogs and to increase their mobility.