Hesperidin and Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Modulate the Composition of the Gut Microbiota and Reduce Obesity in High Fat Diet Mice

Abstract

Ting Liu,1,* Chao Lei,1,* Qinhong Huang,2,* Weiqi Song,3 Chen Li,1 Ning Sun,4,5 Zhihua Liu6 1Key Laboratory of Biological Targeting Diagnosis, Therapy and Rehabilitation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510799, People’s Republic of China; 2The First Clinical College, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 511400, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Guangzhou 11th People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Cadre and Talent Health Management Center, Guangzhou, 510530, People’s Republic of China; 5The State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong, China; 6Department of Anorectal Surgery, the Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People’s Hospital), Dongguan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Zhihua Liu; Ning Sun, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Obesity, which is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis, low-grade chronic inflammation and intestinal barrier dysfunction, can cause a variety of chronic metabolic diseases. Phytochemical flavonoids have a variety of biological activities, among which there may be safe and effective anti-obesity solutions.Methods: We tested a plant-derived flavonoid hesperidin and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to alleviate diet-induced obesity. High-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were treated with hesperidin (100 and 200 mg/kg BW) and FMT.Results: Results indicated that hesperidin had the effects of reducing obesity as indicated by reduction of body weight, fat accumulation and blood lipids, reducing inflammation as indicated by reduction of pro-inflammation factors including TNFα, IL-6, IL-1βand iNOS, and improving gut integrity as indicated by increasing colon length, reducing plasma gut permeability indicators iFABP and LBP, increased mRNA expression of mucus protein Muc2, tight junction p Claudin 2, Occludin and ZO-1 in the HFD-fed mice. The anti-obesity effects of hesperidin treatment have a dose-dependent manner. In addition, 16S rRNA-based gut microbiota analysis revealed that hesperidin selectively promoted the growth of Lactobacillus salivarius, Staphylococcus sciuri and Desulfovibrio C21_c20 while inhibiting Bifidobacterium pseudolongum, Mucispirillum schaedleri, Helicobacter ganmani and Helicobacter hepaticus in the HFD-fed mice. Horizontal feces transfer from the normal diet (ND)-fed mice to the HFD-fed mice conferred anti-obesity effects and transmitted some of the HFD-modulated microbes.Conclusion: We concluded that hesperidin and FMT both affect the reduction of body weight and improve HFD-related disorders in the HFD-fed mice possibly through modulating the composition of the gut microbiota.Keywords: hesperidin, high-fat diet, obesity, gut microbiota, fecal microbiota transplantation

Keywords

• hesperidin
• high-fat diet
• obesity
• gut microbiota
• fecal microbiota transplantation