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Article | Open Access

Association analysis of an anti-obesity mechanism and key ripened Pu-erh tea bioactive components by mimicking human general tea drinking

Junyu Liua,b,#, Zhengyang Songa,b,#, Haihong Chenb,c, Wen Zenga, Guirong Hanb,c, Wei Lib, Bing Xub,c, Yuan Lua, Canyang Zhangb, Zhenglian Xued, Bin Lüe, Chong Zhanga, Song Yangf(), Yi Wanga (), Xinhui Xinga,b,c()
MOE Key Laboratory for Industrial Biocatalysis, Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
Institute of Biomedical Health Technology and Engineering, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China
Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China
Yunnan Shujian Tea Co., Ltd., Kunming 650000, China
Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, School of Life Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China

# These authors contributed equally to this work.

Peer review under responsibility of Tsinghua University Press.

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Abstract

Pu-erh tea, a traditional Chinese beverage, performs an anti-obesity function, but the correlation between its components and efficacy remains unknown. Here, we screened two Pu-erh teas with significant anti-obesity efficacies from 11 teas. In vitro experiments revealed that lipid accumulation in L02 cells and lipid synthesis in 3T3-L1 cells were significantly better inhibited by Tea-B than Tea-A. Further in vivo experiments using model mice revealed that the differences in chemical components generated two pathways in the anti-obesity efficacy and mechanism of Pu-erh teas. Tea-A changes the histomorphology of brown adipose tissue (BAT) and increases the abundance of Coriobacteriaceae_UCG_002 and cyclic AMP in guts through high chemical contents of cyclopentasiloxane, decamethyl, tridecane and 1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene, eventually increasing BAT activation and fat browning gene expression; the high content of hexadecane and 1,2-dimethoxy-benzene in Tea-B reduces white adipose tissue (WAT) accumulation and the process of fatty liver, increases the abundance of Odoribacter and sphinganine 1-phosphate, inhibits the expression of lipid synthesis and transport genes. These mechanistic findings on the association of the representative bioactive components in Pu-erh teas with the anti-obesity phenotypes, gut microbes, gut metabolite structure and anti-obesity pathways, which were obtained for the first time, provide foundations for developing functional Pu-erh tea.

Keywords

Anti-obesityBioactive componentsLipid metabolismMultiomics analysisPu-erh tea

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Food Science and Human Wellness
Volume 14 Issue 2,
February 2025
Article number: 9250030
DOI: 10.26599/FSHW.2024.9250030
Cite this article:
Liu J, Song Z, Chen H, et al. Association analysis of an anti-obesity mechanism and key ripened Pu-erh tea bioactive components by mimicking human general tea drinking. Food Science and Human Wellness, 2025, 14(2): 9250030. https://doi.org/10.26599/FSHW.2024.9250030
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