Flos Lonicera Ameliorates Obesity and Associated Endotoxemia in Rats through Modulation of Gut Permeability and Intestinal Microbiota
Open Access
- 24 January 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 9 (1), e86117
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086117
Abstract
Increasing evidence has indicated a close association of host-gut flora metabolic interaction with obesity. Flos Lonicera, a traditional herbal medicine, is used widely in eastern Asia for the treatment of various disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether unfermented or fermented formulations of Flos Lonicera could exert a beneficial impact to combat obesity and related metabolic endotoxemia. Obesity and metabolic endotoxemia were induced separately or together in rats through feeding a eight-week high fat diet either alone (HFD control group) or in combination with a single LPS stimulation (intraperitoneal injection, 0.75 mg/kg) (LPS control group). While, the mechanism of action of the Lonicera formulations was explored in vitro using RAW 264.7 and HCT 116 cell lines as models. In cell-based studies, treatment with both unfermented Flos Lonicera (UFL) and fermented Flos Lonicera (FFL) formulations resulted in suppression of LPS-induced NO production and gene expression of vital proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, COX-2, and IL-6) in RAW 264.7 cells, reduced the gene expression of zonula occludens (ZO)-1 and claudin-1, and normalized trans epithelial electric resistance (TEER) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) flux in LPS-treated HCT-116 cells. In an animal study, treatment of HFD as well as HFD+LPS groups with UFL or FFL resulted in a notable decrease in body and adipose tissue weights, ameliorated total cholesterol, HDL, triglyceride, aspartate transaminase and endotoxin levels in serum, reduced the urinary lactulose/mannitol ratio, and markedly alleviated lipid accumulation in liver. In addition, exposure of HFD as well as HFD+LPS groups with UFL or FFL resulted in significant alteration of the distribution of intestinal flora, especially affecting the population of Akkermansia spp. and ratio of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. This evidence collectively demonstrates that Flos Lonicera ameliorates obesity and related metabolic endotoxemia via regulating distribution of gut flora and gut permeability.This publication has 71 references indexed in Scilit:
- Cross-talk between Akkermansia muciniphila and intestinal epithelium controls diet-induced obesityProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013
- Conserved Shifts in the Gut Microbiota Due to Gastric Bypass Reduce Host Weight and AdiposityScience Translational Medicine, 2013
- Evaluation ofIn VitroAnti-Inflammatory Activities and Protective Effect of Fermented Preparations of Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae on Intestinal Barrier Function against Lipopolysaccharide InsultEvidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013
- Intestinal Protective Effects of Herbal-Based Formulations in Rats against Neomycin InsultEvidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013
- An opportunistic pathogen isolated from the gut of an obese human causes obesity in germfree miceThe ISME Journal, 2012
- Propensity to high-fat diet-induced obesity in rats is associated with changes in the gut microbiota and gut inflammationAmerican Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 2010
- A core gut microbiome in obese and lean twinsNature, 2008
- Human gut microbes associated with obesityNature, 2006
- An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvestNature, 2006
- Obesity alters gut microbial ecologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2005