Summer–autumn tea promotes adipocyte browning and thermogenesis in association with gut microbiota regulation in high-fat diet-fed mice

Abstract

This study revealed for the first time the anti-obesity effect of summer–autumn tea aqueous extract (SATE) and its underlying mechanism. High-fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6J mice were treated with or without 400 mg kg⁻¹ SATE for 12 weeks, and administration of SATE significantly ameliorated glucolipid metabolism disorder and induced beige-fat development and brown adipose tissue (BAT)-derived non-shivering thermogenesis via the AMPK-PGC-1α-UCP1 signal axis in HFD-fed mice. 16S rDNA-based microbiota and targeted metabolomics analyses indicated that SATE improved intestinal microbiota dysbiosis and microbial metabolism abnormality caused by HFD, reflected by a dramatic increase in the relative abundance of Muribaculaceae, Bifidobacterium and Odoribacter and production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Interestingly, SATE-induced thermogenesis was highly correlated with the reconstruction of the gut microbiome and the formation of SCFAs. These findings suggest that SATE has the potential to alleviate obesity by activating adipose browning and thermogenesis in association with the reconstruction of the gut microbiota and its metabolites, providing a theoretical foundation for summer–autumn tea as a functional tea to prevent obesity.