Anti-Obesity, Anti-Atherosclerotic and Anti-Oxidant Effects of Pu-Erh Tea on a High Fat Diet-Induced Obese Rat Model

Pu-erh tea, a traditional Chinese beverage, has been believed to have many benefits to human health and without side effects. In this study, we systematically analyzed the main active components of Pu-erh tea and investigated its anti-obesity, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-oxidant effects using an obese rat model. Obesity was induced by feeding a high-fat diet and subsequently the experimental obese mice were fed with high-fat diet supplemented with low (2.5%), medium (5%) or high (7.5%) doses of Pu-erh tea powder for 6 weeks respectively. As result, the body weight gain of the rats was decreased by medium and high doses of Pu-erh tea treatments. Furthermore, the levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and atherosclerosis index (AI) were significantly lowered by Pu-erh tea compared to the control group. Conversely, high density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C) level of the rats was significantly elevated by Pu-erh tea treatments. In addition, Pu-erh tea treatments increased the activities of anti-oxidative enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxides (GSH-Px), whereas reduced the level of lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) in obese rats. Collectively, our find-ings revealed that Pu-erh tea exerts comprehensive benefits in anti-obesity, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-oxidant effects, therefore can be used as a promising functional food in obesity management.