The anti-obesity and gut microbiota modulating effects of taxifolin in C57BL/6J mice fed with a high-fat diet

BACKGROUND Taxifolin is a natural dihydroflavonol found in many plants and health products. In the present study, its anti-obesity and gut microbiota modulating effects were studied. C57BL/6J mice were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) supplemented with taxifolin (0, 0.5 and 1 mg mL −1 , respectively) in drinking water for 15 weeks. RESULTS Taxifolin supplementation showed no influence on food and water intake. However, it decreased body weight gain, inhibited fat accumulation, and decreased total cholesterol and triacylglycerol level in mice liver. Taxifolin enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in mice liver, which in turn protected the liver from lipid peroxidation damage. It also improved insulin resistance in obese mice. Metagenomic analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA demonstrated that HFD decreased gut microbiota diversity and caused dysbiosis. However, taxifolin improved the gut microbiota diversity and decreased the Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes ratio. In particular, it inhibited Proteobacteria from blooming, this being a signature of dysbiosis in gut microbiota. CONCLUSION Taxifolin ameliorated the symptoms of obesity, hepatic steatosis, lipid peroxidation, insulin resistance, and gut microbiota dysbiosis in HFD fed C57BL/6J mice. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.