Ginseng-plus-Bai-Hu-Tang ameliorates diet-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis, and insulin resistance in mice

Hsu-Feng Lu; Yu-Heng Lai; Hsiu-Chen Huang; I-Jung Lee; Lie-Chwen Lin; Hui-Kang Liu; Hsiao-Hsuan Tien; Cheng Huang

doi:10.1016/j.jgr.2018.10.005

Ginseng-plus-Bai-Hu-Tang ameliorates diet-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis, and insulin resistance in mice

J Ginseng Res. 2020 Mar;44(2):238-246. doi: 10.1016/j.jgr.2018.10.005. Epub 2018 Oct 27.

Authors

Hsu-Feng Lu^{1

2}, Yu-Heng Lai³, Hsiu-Chen Huang⁴, I-Jung Lee⁵, Lie-Chwen Lin⁶, Hui-Kang Liu^{6

7}, Hsiao-Hsuan Tien⁸, Cheng Huang^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Clinical Pathology, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Chemistry, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Applied Science, National Tsing Hua University South Campus, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Kampo Medicine, Yokohama University of Pharmacy, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁶ National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Ph.D. Program in Clinical Drug Development of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Biotechnology and Laboratory Science in Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Earth and Life Sciences, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: Dietary fat has been suggested to be the cause of various health issues. Obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and kidney disease are known to be associated with a high-fat diet (HFD). Obesity and associated conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are currently a worldwide health problem. Few prospective pharmaceutical therapies that directly target NAFLD are available at present. A Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginseng-plus-Bai-Hu-Tang (GBHT), is widely used by diabetic patients to control glucose level or thirst. However, whether it has therapeutic effects on fat-induced hepatic steatosis and metabolic syndrome remains unclear.

Methods: This study was conducted to examine the therapeutic effect of GBHT on fat-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis, and insulin resistance in mice.

Results: GBHT protected mice against HFD-induced body weight gain, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia compared with mice that were not treated. GBHT inhibited the expansion of adipose tissue and adipocyte hypertrophy. No ectopic fat deposition was found in the livers of HFD mice treated with GBHT. In addition, glucose intolerance and insulin sensitivity in HFD mice was also improved by GBHT.

Conclusion: GBHT prevents changes in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in a HFD mouse model. Our findings provide evidence for the traditional use of GBHT as therapy for the management of metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: GBHT, Ginseng-plus-Bai-Hu-Tang; HDL, High-density lipoprotein; HFD, High-fat diet; NAFLD, Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH, Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; Panax ginseng; T2DM, Type 2 diabetes mellitus; diet-induced obesity; ginseng-plus-Bai-Hu-Tang; hepatic steatosis; insulin resistance.