ABSTRACT To explore whether hydroxy‐alpha‐sanshool (HAS) prevents obesity by modulating appetite and the gut microbiome, an obesity model was established using mice fed a high‐fat diet. The food intake, body mass, feed efficiency and organ index of the mice were recorded, and the serum levels of GLP‐1 and PYY were measured. The mRNA and protein expression of appetite‐related genes in the small intestine and brain tissue were detected by real‐time quantitative PCR and Western blotting, and the intestinal flora was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results revealed that the body weight, food intake and feed efficiency of the mice were significantly reduced (4.28%, 14.46%, and 25.33%, respectively) and that the levels of GLP‐1 and PYY were significantly increased ( p < 0.05) (9.11% and 5.49%, respectively) by the HAS intervention. The relative mRNA expression of NPY and AGRP in the small intestine decreased significantly (39.62%, 21.95%) ( p < 0.05); the relative mRNA levels of CART, GLP‐1R, NPY2R and GLP‐1 in the brain tissue increased significantly; and those of NPY and AGRP decreased significantly ( p < 0.05). The protein expression of POMC and GLP‐1 increased significantly ( p < 0.05), whereas the protein expression of NPY and AGRP decreased significantly ( p < 0.05). The diversity of intestinal flora in the cecal contents and the relative abundance of probiotics among the dominant flora increased. In conclusion, HAS could modulate the expression of appetite‐related factors and the composition of intestinal microbiota in mice fed with a high‐fat diet by regulating food intake and maintaining energy homeostasis, which is consistent with the involvement of the gut‐brain axis in this regulatory mechanism.
Luo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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