Gut microbiota-mediated improvement of metabolic disorders by Qingzhuan tea in high fat diet-fed mice

Abstract Qingzhuan tea (QZT) is a dark tea which is widely consumed by Chinese national minority whose staple diets are high fat. It has been previously demonstrated that QZT has anti-inflammatory properties, however its preventive and therapeutic mechanism on metabolic syndromes remains unclear. Particularly, how QZT extract modulates the metabolic syndrome-related gut microbiota composition remains to be elucidated. This study aims to explore the changes in gut microbial communities mediated by a 16-week QZT extract consumption in a diet-induced obese mice model through 16S rRNA sequencing. Our results demonstrate that QZT extract can significantly prevent body weight gain, fat accumulation, and also reduce serum levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides, which is accompanied by a decrease in Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio and relative abundance of S24-7 and Ruminococcaceae. Overall, our findings suggest QZT supplementation-induced gut microbial changes so that present benefits on mice with metabolic syndrome in high-fat diet-fed mice.