Abstract
BackgroundObesity has become a major global health challenge due to its increasing prevalence, and the associated health risk. It is the main cause of various metabolic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke and certain forms of cancer.Methods and ResultsIn the present study we evaluated the anti-obesity property of Daesiho-tang (DSHT), an herbal medicine, using high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice as a model. Our results showed that DSHT ameliorated body weight gain, decreased total body fat, regulated expression of leptin and adiponectin genes of adipose tissue and exerted an anti-diabetic effect by attenuating fasting glucose level and serum insulin level in HFD-fed animals. In addition, DSHT-treatment significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and increased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) levels in serum and reduced deposition of fat droplets in liver. DSHT treatment resulted in significantly increased relative abundance of bacteria including Bacteroidetes, Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio, Akkermansia Bifidobacterium., Lactobacillus, and decreased the level of Firmicutes. Using RT2 profiler PCR array, 39 (46%) genes were found to be differentially expressed in HFD-fed mice compared to normal control. However, normal gene expressions were restored in 36 (92%) genes of HFD-fed mice, when co-exposed to DSHT.Conclusion/Major FindingsThe results of this study demonstrated that DSHT is an effective herbal formulation in attenuation of obesity in HFD-fed mice through alteration of gene expressions and modulation of intestinal microbiota.
Highlights
Obesity, a common metabolic disease, has become a major global health challenge due to its increasing prevalence, and the associated health risk [1]
In the present study we evaluated the anti-obesity property of Daesiho-tang (DSHT), an herbal medicine, using high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice as a model
Our results showed that DSHT ameliorated body weight gain, decreased total body fat, regulated expression of leptin and adiponectin genes of adipose tissue and exerted an anti-diabetic effect by attenuating fasting glucose level and serum insulin level in HFD-fed animals
Summary
A common metabolic disease, has become a major global health challenge due to its increasing prevalence, and the associated health risk [1]. Accumulating evidence suggests that the gut microbiota play an important role in human obesity by influencing energy extraction, inflammation, and neuroendocrine secretions [7]. These microbial communities are predominantly represented by two phyla; Firmicutes (includes Ruminococcus, Clostridium, Eubacterium and Lactobacillus) and Bacteroidetes (includes Prevotella, Bacteroides) with significant numbers of Actinobacteria (Bifidobacterium) and Proteobacteria members [8]. Obesity has become a major global health challenge due to its increasing prevalence, and the associated health risk It is the main cause of various metabolic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke and certain forms of cancer
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