Investigating the Anti-adipogenic Potential of Xanthium strumarium Linn. Leaves Fractions: HPTLC-MS Characterization, Enzymatic Analysis, and 3T3-L1 Adipocyte Differentiation Assay in Oxidative Stress-modulated Adipogenesis Cascade

Background Molecular pathogenesis of obesity is initiated by cellular oxidative stress along with increased adipogenesis. For the search of better alternatives of synthetic molecules in terms of their adverse events, naturally, existing compounds are now a research focus. In this context, Xanthium strumarium ( X. strumarium) Linn. exhibited anti-diabetic activities and proved to have efficacy in neutralizing very near pathological targets to obesity. Purpose This study is aimed toward bioactivity-guided fraction isolation of methanolic leaves extract, where bioactivity refers to anti-adipogenesis and antioxidant efficacy in in vitro enzymatic and three-day transfer, inoculum 3×105 cells (3T3-L1) adipocyte differentiation assay. Materials and Methods Collection and drying of the raw leaves followed by cold extraction in methanol and flash chromatography for bioactive fraction isolation. 3T3-L1 cell line was utilized for adipocyte differentiation assay of those and on the other hand in vitro pancreatic lipase, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase enzymatic assays were analyzed. Based on exhibited activities, selected fractions are further characterized by high-performance thin-layer chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPTLC-MS). Results The most active fractions from these assays underwent characterization via HPTLC-MS. Fractions 2 and 3 exhibited potent activities in all enzymatic assays (α-glucosidase IC 50 : 2.48 ± 0.015, 2.84 ± 0.030 µg/mL; α-amylase IC 50 : 1.98 ± 0.050, 1.79 ± 0.045 µg/mL; pancreatic lipase IC 50 : 3.16 ± 0.030, 3.18 ± 0.040 µg/mL) and displayed significant inhibition of adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cell line. These fractions further identified through HPTLC-MS, contained compounds like β-sitosterol and quercetin, affirming their potential bioactivity. Conclusion The study underscores the potential of X. strumarium Linn. fractions as promising natural alternatives for combating obesity-related pathways, highlighting their significance in developing future anti-obesity therapeutics.