Fuzhuan Brick Tea Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity and Associated Metabolic Disorders by Shaping Gut Microbiota

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that the metabolic
improvement
of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice by Fuzhuan brick tea (FBT)
is associated with gut microbiota. However, the causalities between
FBT and gut microbiota have not yet been elucidated and the underlying
mechanisms of action remain unclear. To impart direct evidence for
the essential role of gut microbiota in the attenuation of obesity
by FBT, the effects of FBT on healthy mice and microbiota-depleted
mice that were treated with antibiotics were compared in an HFD-induced
obesity mouse model. The results showed that FBT dramatically ameliorated
obesity, serum lipid parameters, blood glucose homeostasis, hepatic
steatosis, adipocyte hypertrophy, and tissue inflammation. However,
the microbiota-depleted mice with single bacterium (Escherichia-Shigella) after antibiotic treatment were resistant
to FBT-induced antiobesity and metabolic improvement. The beneficial
effects of FBT resulted from its shift on gut microbiota composition
and structure in mice. HFD-induced increase in the phyla Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio was remarkably restored
by FBT. Furthermore, FBT-induced increase in abundances of beneficial
bacteria Clostridiaceae, Bacteroidales, and Lachnospiraceae and decreases in harmful Ruminococcaceae, Peptococcaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, and Erysipelotrichaceae were causal antecedents for FBT to reduce obesity and improve metabolic
disorders.