Influence of Panax Ginseng on obesity and gut microbiota in obese middle-aged Korean women

Gut microbiota is regarded as one of the major factors involved in control of body weight. The anti-obesity effects of ginseng and its main constituents have been demonstrated, however, the effects on gut microbiota are still unknown. To investigate the effect of Ginseng on gut microbiota, 10 obese middle-aged Korean women took Ginseng panax extracts for eight weeks and assessment of body composition parameters, metabolic biomarkers, and gut microbiota composition was performed using 16S rRNA gene-based pyrosequencing at baseline and at week 8. Significant changes were observed in body weight and BMI, however, slight changes were observed in gut microbiota. We divided the subjects into two groups, the effective weight loss group (EWG) and the ineffective weight loss group (IWG), depending on weight loss effect, in order to determine whether the anti-obesity effect was influenced by composition of gut microbiota, and the composition of gut microbiota was compared between the two groups. Before ginseng intake, significant differences of gut microbiota were observed between both at phyla and genera and the gut microbiota of the EWG and IWG were segregated on a principal coordinate analysis plot. Significant difference in the change of gut microbiota after ginseng intake was also observed between the two groups. Results of this study indicate that ginseng exerted a weight loss effect and slight effects on gut microbiota in all subjects. In addition, its anti-obesity effects differed depending on the composition of gut microbiota before ginseng intake.