Asperuloside Improves Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes through Modulation of Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Signaling

• Main Authors: Anna Nakamura, Yoko Yokoyama, Kazuki Tanaka, Giorgia Benegiamo, Akiyoshi Hirayama, Qi Zhu, Naho Kitamura, Taichi Sugizaki, Kohkichi Morimoto, Hiroshi Itoh, Shinji Fukuda, Johan Auwerx, Kazuo Tsubota, Mitsuhiro Watanabe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-09-01
• Series: iScience
• Subjects: Human Metabolism; Microbiome
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004220307148

Summary: Asperuloside (ASP) is an iridoid glycoside that is extracted from Eucommia leaves. Eucommia is used in traditional Chinese medicine and has a long history of benefits on health and longevity. Here, we investigated the impact of ASP on obesity-related metabolic disorders and show that ASP reduces body weight gain, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance effectively in mice fed with a high-fat diet (HFD). Intestinal dysbiosis is closely linked with metabolic disorders. Our data indicate that ASP achieves these benefits on metabolic homeostasis by reversing HFD-induced gut dysbiosis and by changing gut-derived secondary metabolites and metabolic signaling. Our results indicate that ASP may be used to regulate gut microbiota for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.