Mar. Drugs 2019, 17(1), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/md17010038
Asperlin Stimulates Energy Expenditure and Modulates Gut Microbiota in HFD-Fed Mice
1
Pharmacology and Toxicology Research Center, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China
2
State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 11 December 2018 / Revised: 4 January 2019 / Accepted: 5 January 2019 / Published: 9 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Probiotics and Prebiotics: Characterization and Prospects for the Development of New Drugs/Nutraceuticals)
Abstract
Asperlin is a marine-derived, natural product with antifungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic activities. In the present study, we showed that asperlin effectively prevented the development of obesity in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Oral administration of asperlin for 12 weeks significantly suppressed HFD-induced body weight gain and fat deposition without inhibiting food intake. Hyperlipidemia and liver steatosis were also substantially ameliorated. A respiratory metabolism monitor showed that asperlin efficiently increased energy expenditure and enhanced thermogenic gene expression in adipose tissue. Accordingly, asperlin-treated mice showed higher body temperature and were more tolerant of cold stress. Meanwhile, asperlin also increased the diversity and shifted the structure of gut microbiota. Oral administration of asperlin markedly increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, leading to a higher Bacteroidetes-to-Fimicutes ratio. The HFD-induced abnormalities at both phylum and genus levels were all remarkably recovered by asperlin. These results demonstrated that asperlin is effective in preventing HFD-induced obesity and modulating gut microbiota. Its anti-obesity properties may be attributed to its effect on promoting energy expenditure. View Full-TextKeywords:
asperlin; gut microbiota; obesity; marine drug; energy expenditure
▼
Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Wu, C.; Zhou, Y.; Qi, G.; Liu, D.; Cao, X.; Yu, J.; Zhang, R.; Lin, W.; Guo, P. Asperlin Stimulates Energy Expenditure and Modulates Gut Microbiota in HFD-Fed Mice. Mar. Drugs 2019, 17, 38.
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Related Articles
Article Metrics
Comments
[Return to top]
Mar. Drugs
EISSN 1660-3397
Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland
RSS
E-Mail Table of Contents Alert