This commentary represents a short narrative review of the provenance and chemical composition of Invingia gabonensis (Aubry-Lecomte ex O’Rorke) Baill, as well as of the currently available knowledge concerning its action with focus on anti-obesity effects. The data listed in this review demonstrate that Irvingia can be an efficient drug in both traditional and modern medicine for treatment of a number of illnesses. An important medicinal effect of Invingia gabonensis it its ability to promote weight loss in animals and humans via several mechanisms - inducing sensation of satiety, reduction of absorption of nutrients and generation and accumulation of body fat. Therefore, the use of Irvingia gabonensis extract might be recommended as safe food additive to manage obesity and body weight of humans.

• Invingia Gabonensis; Health; Carbohydrate Metabolism; Fat; Weight Loss

Sirotkin AV (2024) Positive Effect of Irvingia Gabonensis on Health and Weight Loss. Ann Public Health Res 11(1): 1130.

Obesity is one of the most common physiological dysfunction, which, via several signalling pathways can promote development of metabolic syndrome, cancer, cardiovascular, inflammatory and other illnesses. One of the promising approach to prevent and to treat it could be application of functional food and medicinal plants [1,2]. One of such promising plants could be Irvingia gabonensis. Despite its biological and therapeutic potential, ability to affect obesity and other metabolic disorders and inclusion into the list of the promising anti-obesity plants [3-5], no special reviews, which summarize its action on obesity, has been published in the last decade yet. The present publication is the first attempting to review the current available knowledge concerning the action of Irvingia on health with focus on the data concerning their ability to prevent and to treat obesity and related disorders.

Search for literature was performed in agreement with the PRISMA- ScR criteria [6]. Related articles were searched for in PubMed, Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases from 1995 to 2023. In cases of repeated or conflicting information or references, more sources that are recent have been preferred. Words used to search were “Irvingia Gabonensis” or “Obesity”, alone or in combination with “Health”, “Metabolism”, and “Mechanisms”. Both relevant experimental papers and the reviews were evaluated. A total of 152 research papers and reviews were inspected and considered as useful and suitable for analysis.

Irvingia Gabonensis (Aubry-Lecomte ex O’Rorke) Baill. (IG) (also known as wild mango, African mango, bush mango, dika or ogbono) grows and is cultivated in the countries of West Equatorial Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon) for its fruit and seeds. It is a multipurpose tree with high ethnomedicinal values [7,8]. Its juicy and sweet fruit contains 15.7% of carbohydrates, 0.9% protein, 0.2% fat, phosphor, calcium, iron and a large amount (70 g/kg) of C vitamin. The seeds are rather calorie dense (6 970 cal/kg). They are high in fat (63- 69%), primarily in the form of myristic acid, lauric acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid. These belong to saturated fatty acids. At the same time, they contain 15% carbohydrates, 8.5% proteins, calcium and iron [9,10]. Other authors [11] identified in the seeds of African mango high levels of ellagic acid and its glycosides - antioxidants with anti-tumour effect [12,13]. The juce of ujnpeeling Irvingia has significantly higher carbohydrate, protein, fat and ash contents than peeled plant [13].

Irvingia gabonensis oil is resistant to high temperatures and oxidation; therefore, it can be used as a replacement for palm oil and other oils used in the food industry [14]. Irvingia oil has considerable antioxidant abilities as well [15].

It has antibacterial [16] and antiphrastic [17] effects. It can reduce pain [18]. In African medicine, Irvingia is used to treat neurodegenerative disorders. It is probable that its antioxidants can suppress oxidative stress, which can be a cause for these disorders [15]. Irvingia gabonensis can neutralize the toxic effect of cadmium on kidneys [19] and arsenic on liver [20]. Irvingia gabonensis extract inhibits bowel movements, which indicates it is suitable for application as a natural diarrhoea treatment [21].

Different parts of this plant are used in ethno medicine for prevention and treatment of different disorders. For example, the ripe fruit pulp was consumed fresh or processed into juice and wine documented for anti-diarrheal, anti-diabetic, antiulcer, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. The kernels, which are widely traded and incorporated into traditional dishes, remain an integral part of culinary traditions. Seeds have folkloric uses for weight loss and are popular as blood thinners and anti-diabetics. Where the bark is reported for dysentery, colic, scabies, toothache, and various skin conditions. In Senegal, the stem bark is employed for gonorrhea, hepatic disorders, and gastrointestinal ailments. The leaves possess the potential to enhance renal and hepatic functions, safeguarding these vital organs against the detrimental effects of toxic substances [22].

Fibre form Irvingia gabonensis suppressed the absorption of glucose in the intestines of rats [23]. In humans, Irvingia gabonensis decreased the concentration of blood sugar; therefore, it was successful in treatment of diabetes [24] and metabolic syndrome [25-29]. The effect of Irvingia can be explained its suppressive influence on inflammation, apoptosis, and endoplasmic reticulum stress and its ability to promote autophagy, via modulation of numerous intracellular signalling pathways [8].

Irvingia gabonensis extract was able to suppress bowel movements of laboratory animals [21] and the activity of the transmitters regulating production and storing of fat in adipose tissue of rats [27,28]. These experiments, carried out on animals, indicate that the molecules in Irvingia gabonensis can suppress the storing of fat in the body and thus reduce obesity by at least three pathways:

• Retention of food in the intestines and consequently triggering the sensation of satiety and a full stomach [21].

• Reducing rate of absorption of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract [23].

• Reducing food consumption/energy intake, but not expenditure [30].

• Reducing blood level of cholesterols and triglycerides and, therefore, their usage for fat accumulation [5-31].

• Repressing production and accumulation of fat in the body [27,28] or plasma adipocytes [30].

The fat contained in Irvingia gabonensis seeds did not influence the body weight of rats or the weight of their organs, although in males it reduced the weight of the liver [32]. Numerous studies confirm the ability of Irvingia gabonensis to facilitated weight reduction and treat obesity in humans [5,4, 25- 29,33-35]. However, some shortcomings in the methodology of these tests cast doubt on the reliability of their results [31-33]. The main clinical studies were performed on limited number of African native people [4]. Moreover, two clinical trial did not confirm the anti-obesity effects of Irvingia [1-21].

When applying Irvingia gabonensis, adverse side-effects such as headaches and sleep disorders were determined [35]. No toxic effects of Irvingia, even at large doses, were found [12-31]

The ability of extracts from Irvingia gabonensis seed to normalise metabolism of saccharides and lipids and to facilitate weight loss has been validated by experiments on animals and clinical studies on humans. Additionally, these molecules have also other medicinal and therapeutic effects. At the same time, no data exist about a significant adverse effect. Therefore, the use of Irvingia gabonensis extract is recommended to manage obesity and body weight of humans. Administration of 200-3150 mg/ day Irvingia gabonensis extract for 4-10 weeks could lead to statistically and clinically significant weight loss and decreased waist circumference [35].

Data from the scientific literature indicate the applicability of Irvingia gabonensis seed extracts to stimulate weight loss of people, despite the high fat content. Utilization of Irvingia fruits also has potential, as they contain molecules similar to those found in the seeds but are less calorie-dense and have a pleasant fruity taste, therefore they could be used also to flavour and sweeten food.

This work was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV) under the contract APVV-15-0296 and by the Slovak Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the Slovak Academy of Science (VEGA), project VEGA 1/0680/22.

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