The influence of ephedra on gut microbiota of obese women

Obesity is associated with various chronic health problems, and the risk of obesity increased in worldwide. The multifarious counterplans such as exercise, low fat diet, and supplements for weight loss were offered by various scientists and doctors. Ephedra (Ma Huang) has been used to lose weight as supplement and it effects have been reported. The associations of obesity with the alteration in gut microbiota have been reported by microbiome studies. Ephedra can influence the composition of gut microbiota, and this can correlate with weight loss. Here we analyzed the gut microbiota of subjects pre- and post intakes of ephedra by using pyrosequencing. Body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), and body fat percentage of subjects were reduced after intakes (p < 0.05). Subdoligranulum, Oscillibacter, and Akkermansia are associated with the changes of BW and BMI in correlation analysis (p < 0.05). However, the alteration of gut microbiota varied by indigenous microbiota of each subject, and the dissimilarity between microbiota of pre- and post-intakes subjects were different. This indicates that the influences of gut microbiota are unique by indigenous microbiota and different of individual sensitivity to ephedra.