Effect of an herbal extract Number Ten (NT) on body weight in rats

Abstract

Abstract Background Chinese herbal extract Number Ten (NT) is a dietary herbal formulation prepared from rhubarb, ginger, astragalus, red sage and tumeric. This study tested the effectiveness of NT in reducing body weight gain in rats. Methods Sixty female Wistar rats were fed a high fat diet and acclimated to gavage feeding. The rats were divided into five treatment groups: (1) Control (n = 15); (2) NT-H (n = 15), 1.5 g/day; (3) NT-L (n = 10), 0.75 g/day; (4) Pr-fed (n = 10), pair fed to NT-H; (5) d-FF (n = 10), d-fenfluramine 2 mg/kg. Ten rats per group were sacrificed on day 56. Weight, food intake, clinical chemistry and body composition were evaluated. Five animals in the control and 1.5 g/day NT groups were left untreated during a two week recovery period. Results The 0.75 g/day NT, 1.5 g/day NT, d-fenfluramine and pair fed groups gained 24.6%, 33.3%, 12.3% and 33.3% less than the control respectively (P Conclusion This study demonstrated the efficacy of NT in reducing weight gain in rodents.