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Oxidized tea polyphenols prevent lipid accumulation in liver and visceral white adipose tissue in rats

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Abstract

Background

Tea polyphenols are the prominent component in tea. After the fermentation process, tea polyphenols are oxidized by polyphenol oxidase to form oxidized tea polyphenols (OTPs). OTPs contain a significant amount of hydrophobic phenyl groups that can bind with non-aqueous materials. Here, we determined whether OTPs can bind with lipids and reduce fat uptake and assessed the effect of OTPs on decreasing obesity and alleviating hyperlipidaemia and other metabolic syndromes.

Methods

Rats were divided into three groups: control, high-fat diet (HFD) and OTP groups. The control and HFD groups were fed a chow diet and a high-fat diet, respectively, for 12 weeks; the OTP group was fed a high-fat diet for 6 weeks and then a high-fat diet containing 2 % OTP for 6 weeks. The serum and excrement triglyceride (TAG) and total cholesterol (CHOL) concentrations were determined, and liver tissue and white adipose tissue were collected to detect the expression levels of genes involved in lipid metabolism.

Results

Our results revealed that OTPs failed to decrease the serum concentrations of TAG and CHOL. OTPs alleviated the accumulation of lipids in the liver tissue and changed the expression levels of the regulators of lipid metabolism, i.e., peroxisome proliferation-activated receptors (ppars), compared with the rats fed a high-fat diet alone. We also observed a significantly decreased reduction of weight in the visceral white adipose, enhanced regulation of fatty acid β-oxidation by PPARα and enhanced biosynthesis of mitochondria in the visceral white adipose of the OTP rats compared with the HFD rats. Additionally, OTPs promoted the excretion of lipids.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that OTPs alleviate the accumulation of lipids in liver and visceral white adipose tissue and promote lipid excretion in rats in vivo.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31460392 and 31260196) and the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (Nos. 2012FB151 and 2014FB180).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Key Laboratory of Puer Tea Science, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China

      Sumin Wang, Yewei Huang, Huanhuan Xu, Qiangqiang Zhu, Hao Lu, Mengmeng Zhang, Chongye Fang, Dongying Zhang, Xiaoyun Wu, Xuanjun Wang & Jun Sheng

    2. Yunnan Research Center for Tea Processing, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China

      Sumin Wang, Yewei Huang, Huanhuan Xu, Qiangqiang Zhu, Hao Lu, Mengmeng Zhang, Chongye Fang, Dongying Zhang, Xiaoyun Wu, Xuanjun Wang & Jun Sheng

    3. Yunnan Station of Tea Resource and Processing, Ministry of Agriculture, Kunming, 650201, China

      Sumin Wang, Yewei Huang, Huanhuan Xu, Qiangqiang Zhu, Hao Lu, Mengmeng Zhang, Chongye Fang, Dongying Zhang, Xiaoyun Wu, Xuanjun Wang & Jun Sheng

    4. State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-Resources in Yunnan, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China

      Xuanjun Wang & Jun Sheng

    5. Department of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China

      Shumei Hao

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    1. Sumin Wang
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    Correspondence to Xiaoyun Wu, Xuanjun Wang or Jun Sheng.

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    Sumin Wang and Yewei Huang have contributed equally to this work.

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    Wang, S., Huang, Y., Xu, H. et al. Oxidized tea polyphenols prevent lipid accumulation in liver and visceral white adipose tissue in rats. Eur J Nutr 56, 2037–2048 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1241-x

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