Antrodia cinnamomea reduces obesity and modulates the gut microbiota in high-fat diet-fed mice

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity Vol. 42; no. 2; pp. 231 - 243
• Main Authors: Chang, C-J, Lu, C-C, Lin, C-S, Martel, J, Ko, Y-F, Ojcius, D M, Wu, T-R, Tsai, Y-H, Yeh, T-S, Lu, J-J, Lai, H-C, Young, J D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-02-2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13/95; 631/250; 631/326; 631/92/349; 64/60; 692/4020/2741/2135; 692/699/2743/393; 692/700/459/1994; Accumulation; Adiponectin; Agaricales; Animals; Anti-inflammatory agents; Antidiabetics; Antrodia - chemistry; Bacteria; Body weight; Complications and side effects; Cytokines; Development and progression; Diabetes mellitus; Diet; Diet therapy; Diet, High-Fat; Dietary supplements; Digestive system; Disease Models, Animal; Dysbacteriosis; Dysbiosis - diet therapy; Dysbiosis - physiopathology; Edible mushrooms; Endotoxemia; Epidemiology; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects; Gastrointestinal tract; Health aspects; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; High fat diet; Inflammation; Inflammation - diet therapy; Insulin; Insulin Resistance - physiology; Interleukin 6; Internal Medicine; Intestinal microflora; Leptin; Lysozyme; Male; Markers; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Traditional; Metabolic Diseases; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microbiota; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Obesity; Obesity - diet therapy; Obesity - physiopathology; Original; original-article; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plants, Medicinal - chemistry; Prevention; Proteins; Public Health; Resistance factors; Risk factors; Small intestine; Statistical analysis; Tight junctions; Triglycerides; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Type 2 diabetes; Weight reduction; Zonula occludens-1 protein
• ISSN: 0307-0565; 1476-5497
• DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2017.149

Background:
Obesity is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis, disrupted intestinal barrier and chronic inflammation. Given the high and increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide, anti-obesity treatments that are safe, effective and widely available would be beneficial. We examined whether the medicinal mushroom
Antrodia cinnamomea
may reduce obesity in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD).
Methods:
Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a HFD for 8 weeks to induce obesity and chronic inflammation. The mice were treated with a water extract of
A. cinnamomea
(WEAC), and body weight, fat accumulation, inflammation markers, insulin sensitivity and the gut microbiota were monitored.
Results:
After 8 weeks, the mean body weight of HFD-fed mice was 39.8±1.2 g compared with 35.8±1.3 g for the HFD+1% WEAC group, corresponding to a reduction of 4 g or 10% of body weight (
P
<0.0001). WEAC supplementation reduced fat accumulation and serum triglycerides in a statistically significant manner in HFD-fed mice. WEAC also reversed the effects of HFD on inflammation markers (interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α), insulin resistance and adipokine production (leptin and adiponectin). Notably, WEAC increased the expression of intestinal tight junctions (zonula occludens-1 and occludin) and antimicrobial proteins (Reg3g and lysozyme C) in the small intestine, leading to reduced blood endotoxemia. Finally, WEAC modulated the composition of the gut microbiota, reducing the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and increasing the level of
Akkermansia muciniphila
and other bacterial species associated with anti-inflammatory properties.
Conclusions:
Supplementation with
A. cinnamomea
produces anti-obesogenic, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects in HFD-fed mice by maintaining intestinal integrity and modulating the gut microbiota.