Anti-obesity effect of Fermented Panax notoginseng modulating appetite via gut-brain axis

Panax notoginseng (PN), a traditional herbal medicine, has several active compounds such as saponins and ginsenosides. Fermented PN (FPN) with lactic acid bacteria has potential to metabolize ginsenosides as well as increase bioavailability. Therefore, this study investigated whether FNP showed the synergies to anti-obesity. For this, we performed that PN were fermented with Lb. plantarum which showed high ß-glucosidase activity then evaluated whether there is a synergic effect of FPN in high fat diet-fed mice model via modulation of gut microbiota. The treatment of FPN highly reduced body and fat weight as well as food intake. The relative mRNA level of LPL, leptin and LBP in adipose tissue synergistically reduced in treatment of FPN compared to PN. FPN treatment also controlled appetite signal via modulation of gene expression of NPY and GLP-1. The treatment of FPN also modulated the gut microbiota composition. The population of gut microbiota was clearly distinguished between PN and FPN treatment group. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes was highly increased in FPN group while the relative abundance of Akkermansia was highly enhanced in FPN group compare PN group. In conclusion, this results support that FPN has synergistic effect on anti-obesity through modulation of gut microbiota.