Ginsenosides From Panax ginseng Improves Hepatic Lipid Metabolism Disorders in HFD-Fed Rats by Regulating Gut Microbiota and Cholesterol Metabolism Signaling Pathways

Yue Zhu; Kang-Xi Zhang; Qing-Yun Bu; Shu-Xia Song; Yue Chen; Hong Zou; Xiao-Yan You; Guo-Ping Zhao

doi:10.1002/ptr.8402

Ginsenosides From Panax ginseng Improves Hepatic Lipid Metabolism Disorders in HFD-Fed Rats by Regulating Gut Microbiota and Cholesterol Metabolism Signaling Pathways

Phytother Res. 2024 Dec 11. doi: 10.1002/ptr.8402. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yue Zhu¹, Kang-Xi Zhang^{1

2}, Qing-Yun Bu^{1

2

3}, Shu-Xia Song^{1

2

3}, Yue Chen¹, Hong Zou⁴, Xiao-Yan You^{1

2}, Guo-Ping Zhao^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Master Lab for Innovative Application of Nature Products, National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China.
² Henan Engineering Research Center of Food Microbiology, College of Food and Bioengineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
³ Haihe Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Tianjin, China.
⁴ CAS Engineering Laboratory for Nutrition, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁵ CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.

PMID: 39660634
DOI: 10.1002/ptr.8402

Abstract

A high-fat diet (HFD) is often associated with hepatic lipid metabolism disorders, leading to dysfunction in multiple body systems. Ginsenosides derived from Panax ginseng have been reported to possess potential effects in ameliorating lipid metabolism disorders; however, their underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently explored. This study aims to investigate the bioactivities of ginsenosides in combating lipid metabolism disorders and obesity, with a focus on their mechanisms involving the cholesterol metabolism signaling pathway and gut microbiota. Our results demonstrated that ginsenoside treatment significantly reduced overall body weight, body weight changes, liver weight, and eWAT weight, as well as alleviated hepatic steatosis and dyslipidemia in HFD-fed rats, without affecting food intake. These effects were dose-dependent. Furthermore, 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that ginsenosides significantly increased the relative abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila, Blautia, Eisenbergiella, Clostridium clusters XI, XVIII, and III, while decreasing the relative abundance of Clostridium subcluster XIVa and Dorea. In addition, ginsenoside treatment significantly regulated the expression of hepatic genes and proteins involved in the cholesterol metabolism signaling pathway (FXR, CYP7A1, CYP7B1, CYP27A1, ABCG5, ABCG8, Insig2, and Dhcr7), potentially inhibiting hepatic cholesterol biosynthesis while promoting cholesterol transport to HDL and its excretion via bile and feces. Notably, levels of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-OHC) were reduced, while 5β,6β-epoxycholesterol (5,6β-epoxy) levels were elevated following ginsenoside treatment, indicating significant modulation of oxysterols by ginsenosides. Moreover, bile acid enterohepatic circulation was regulated through the enhancement of hepatic FXR-CYP7A1 signaling and intestinal FXR-FGF15 signaling in HFD-fed rats treated with ginsenosides, which was closely linked to gut microbiota composition. Collectively, our findings suggest that ginsenosides alleviate hepatic lipid metabolism disorders by modulating gut microbiota and the cholesterol metabolism signaling pathway in HFD-fed rats.

Keywords: BAs enterohepatic circulation; cholesterol metabolism; ginsenosides; gut microbiota; lipid metabolism disorder.

Abstract

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