A combination of quercetin and resveratrol reduces obesity in high-fat diet-fed rats by modulation of gut microbiota

Abstract

Resveratrol and quercetin, widely found in foods and vegetables, are plant polyphenols reported to have a wide range of biological activities. Despite their limited bioavailabilities, both resveratrol and quercetin are known to exhibit anti-inflammation and anti-obesity effects. We hypothesized that gut microbiota may be a potential target for resveratrol and quercetin to prevent the development of obesity. The aim of this research was to confirm whether a combination of quercetin and resveratrol (CQR) could restore the gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). In this study, Wistar rats were divided into three groups: a normal diet (ND) group, a HFD group and a CQR group. The CQR group was treated with a HFD and administered with a combination of quercetin [30 mg per kg body weight (BW) per day] and resveratrol [15 mg per kg body weight (BW) per day] by oral gavage. At the end of 10 weeks, CQR reduced the body weight gain and visceral (epididymal, perirenal) adipose tissue weight. Moreover, CQR also reduced serum lipids, attenuated serum inflammatory markers [interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1] and reversed serum biochemical parameters (adiponectin, insulin, leptin, etc.). Importantly, our results demonstrated that CQR could modulate the gut microbiota composition. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that CQR had an impact on gut microbiota, decreasing Firmicutes (P < 0.05) and the proportion of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (P = 0.052). CQR also significantly inhibited the relative abundance of Desulfovibrionaceae (P < 0.01), Acidaminococcaceae (P < 0.05), Coriobacteriaceae (P < 0.05), Bilophila (P < 0.05), Lachnospiraceae (P < 0.05) and its genus Lachnoclostridium (P < 0.001), which were reported to be potentially related to diet-induced obesity. Moreover, compared with the HFD group, the relative abundance of Bacteroidales_S24-7_group (P < 0.01), Christensenellaceae (P < 0.001), Akkermansia (P < 0.01), Ruminococcaceae (P < 0.01) and its genera Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 (P < 0.01), and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 (P < 0.01), which were reported to have an effect of relieving HFD-induced obesity, was markedly increased in the CQR group. Overall, these results indicated that administration of CQR may have beneficial effects on ameliorating HFD-induced obesity and reducing HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis.

Probiotic Mixture of Lactobacillus plantarum Strains Improves Lipid Metabolism and Gut Microbiota Structure in High Fat Diet-Fed Mice

“…At the genus level, our results reflected that the relative abundances of Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, Alistipes, Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group and Alloprevotella decreased while that of Parabacteroides, Eubacterium xylanophilum group, GCA-900066575, Lachnoclostridium, Lachnospiraceae UCG-006 and Romboutsia increased in the HFD group compared with the control group. In line with our results, earlier studies found that the abundances of Bifidobacterium (Zhu et al, 2018), Bacteroides (Zhang et al, 2015;Martinez et al, 2017), Alistipes (Zhu et al, 2018), Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group , and Alloprevotella were negatively correlated with obesity, and the abundances of Parabacteroides (Lieber et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2018), Eubacterium xylanophilum group , GCA-900066575 , Lachnoclostridium (Zhao et al, 2017b), Lachnospiraceae UCG-006 (Kang et al, 2019), and Romboutsia (Zhao et al, 2018) were positively correlated with obesity. Bifidobacterium, a beneficial microbial species, producing lactic acid and acetic acid, can reduce intestinal pH and inhibit the growth of various detrimental bacteria to maintain intestinal health (Wang R. et al, 2018).…”

Stachyose Improves Inflammation through Modulating Gut Microbiota of High‐Fat Diet/Streptozotocin‐Induced Type 2 Diabetes in Rats

“…In addition to the apparent changes of inflammatory cytokine and gut microbiota, we observed some key communities associated with IL‐6 and TNF‐α in the present study. In our system, Christensenellaceae and Bacteroidales reported negative correlations to IL‐6 and TNF‐α, which was supported by the previous study . Some pathogenic bacteria including Streptococcus and Veillonella increased levels of the cytokines IL‐8, IL‐6, IL‐10, and TNF‐α .…”

“…Changes in the composition of gut microbiota are associated with inflammation in HFD‐induced obesity and diabetes in mice . Quercetin and resveratrol reduced serum lipids and attenuated serum inflammatory cytokines IL‐6 and TNF‐α through restoring gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by a HFD in Wistar rats . In addition to the apparent changes of inflammatory cytokine and gut microbiota, we observed some key communities associated with IL‐6 and TNF‐α in the present study.…”

ω‐3 PUFAs Alleviate High‐Fat Diet–Induced Circadian Intestinal Microbes Dysbiosis

“…The effect of ω‐3 PUFAs on the microbiome was assessed by comparing specific bacteria using LEfSe analysis. Our results showed that gut microbiota of ZT0CON group was mainly associated with increased levels of SCFAs producing bacteria compared with the other three groups at ZT0, including Ruminococcaceae ( unidentified_Ruminococcaceae , Ruminiclostridium_9 , and Ruminiclostridium_1 ) and Butyrivibrio . SCFAs, including acetate, propionate, and butyrate, are the primary end products from the degradation of carbohydrates by gut microbiota in the intestine and could regulate obesity and obesity‐related disturbances in glucose metabolism and insulin resistance .…”