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Review
. 2021 Sep 23:8:727951.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.727951. eCollection 2021.

Plant Extracts in Obesity: A Role of Gut Microbiota

Guangying Weng  1   2 , Yehui Duan  2 , Yinzhao Zhong  2 , Bo Song  2   3 , Jie Zheng  2   3 , Shiyu Zhang  2   3 , Yulong Yin  1   2 , Jinping Deng  1
Affiliations
Review

Plant Extracts in Obesity: A Role of Gut Microbiota

Guangying Weng et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

Obesity has become one of the most serious chronic diseases threatening human health. Its occurrence and development are closely associated with gut microbiota since the disorders of gut microbiota can promote endotoxin production and induce inflammatory response. Recently, numerous plant extracts have been proven to mitigate lipid dysmetabolism and obesity syndrome by regulating the abundance and composition of gut microbiota. In this review, we summarize the potential roles of different plant extracts including mulberry leaf extract, policosanol, cortex moutan, green tea, honokiol, and capsaicin in regulating obesity via gut microbiota. Based on the current findings, plant extracts may be promising agents for the prevention and treatment of obesity and its related metabolic diseases, and the mechanisms might be associated with gut microbiota.

Keywords: gut microbiota; lipid metabolism; mechanisms; obesity; plant extracts.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The overview of anti-obesity effects of plant extracts via gut microbiota.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Possible mechanisms explaining the anti-obesity effects of mulberry leaf extracts and green tea extracts. SCFAs, short chain fatty acids; WAT, white adipose tissue.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Possible mechanisms explaining the anti-obesity effects of cortex moutan. BCAAs, branched-chain amino acids; SREBPs, sterol-regulatory element binding proteins; IL-1β, interleukin-1β.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Possible mechanisms explaining the anti-obesity effects of resveratrol. 4-HPA, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid; 3-HPP, 3-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid; Fiaf, fasting-induced adipose factor; Sirt1, sirtuin 1; TMAO, trimethylamine-N-oxide, BAT, brown adipose tissue, NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Possible mechanisms explaining the anti-obesity effects of capsaicin.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Possible mechanisms explaining the anti-obesity effects of konjac glucomannan.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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