Ephedra -Treated Donor-Derived Gut Microbiota Transplantation Ameliorates High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity in Rats

Jing-Hua Wang, Bong-Soo Kim, Kyungsun Han and Hojun Kim
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Jing-Hua Wang: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, 814 Siksa, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do 10326, Korea
Bong-Soo Kim: Department of Life Sciences, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do 24252, Korea
Kyungsun Han: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, 814 Siksa, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do 10326, Korea
Hojun Kim: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Korean Medicine, Dongguk University, 814 Siksa, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do 10326, Korea

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Changes in gut microbiota (GM) are closely associated with metabolic syndrome, obesity, type 2 diabetes and so on. Several medicinal herbs, including Ephedra sinica (Es), have anti-obesity effects that ameliorate metabolic disorders. Therefore, in this study we evaluated whether Es maintains its anti-obesity effect through Es-altered gut microbiota (EsM) transplantation. GM was isolated from cecal contents of Es treated and untreated rats following repeated transplants into obese rats via oral gavage over three weeks. High-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese rats transplanted with EsM lost significant body weight, epididymal fat, and perirenal fat weight, but no remarkable changes were observed in abdominal fat, liver, cecum weight and food efficiency ratio. In addition, treatment with EsM also significantly lowered the fasting blood glucose, serum insulin level, and insulin resistance index. Meanwhile, EsM transplantation significantly reduced gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1. Rats treated with EsM also showed changed GM composition, especially blautia, roseburia and clostridium, significantly reduced the level of endotoxin and markedly increased the acetic acid in feces. Overall, our results demonstrated that EsM ameliorates HFD-induced obesity and related metabolic disorders, like hyperglycemia and insulin resistance, and is strongly associated with modulating the distribution of GM, enterogenous endotoxin and enteral acetic acid.

Keywords: ephedra; microbiota; transplantation; high fat diet; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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