ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1653855
This article is part of the Research TopicFunctional Foods for Metabolic HealthView all 27 articles
An Analysis of the Intestinal Microbiome Combined with Metabolomics to Explore the Mechanism of How Pangxiejiao Tea Improves Metabolic Disorders in HFFD-Treated Rats
Provisionally accepted
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology Candidate Drug Research, School of Life Science and Biopharmaceuticals, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
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The high-fat and high-fructose diet(HFFD) can lead to various metabolic disorders. Pangxiejiao (PXJ), a natural plant widely used in folk practices, has been found to contain bioactive compounds that exhibit hypoglycemic effects in vitro. However, the potential of PXJ aqueous extract to ameliorate metabolic disorders in vivo and its underlying mechanisms remain unexplored. This study aims to investigate the effects of PXJ on metabolic disorders induced by HFFD in rats. An HFFD was employed to mimic unhealthy dietary habits, while PXJ was administered via oral gavage for 10 weeks. The results demonstrated that PXJ intervention reduced body weight, improved glucose and lipid metabolism, and decreased serum uric acid levels. PXJ alleviated oxidative stress and inflammation, as evidenced by reduced serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, along with ameliorated pathological inflammatory manifestations in metabolism-related organs, such as liver, pancreas, and colon. Furthermore, PXJ was found to decrease the Firmicutes/Bacteroidota ratio, modulated gut microbiota composition, and maintain microbial homeostasis. Nontargeted metabolomics analysis identified 39 upregulated metabolites, including hippuric acid, and 9 downregulated metabolites, such as LysoPG(18:2(9Z,12Z)/0:0). Correlation analysis further revealed that PXJ maintains metabolic homeostasis through complex network crosstalk. Specifically, four gut microbial taxa including Alloprevotella and six metabolites , including hippuric acid, demonstrated significant negative correlations with IL-6, TNF-α , and MDA. In contrast, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group showed positive correlations with these metabolites and SOD. In conclusion, early and sustained PXJ intervention alleviates HFFD-induced metabolic disorders, which is associated with restored gut microbiota balance, improved metabolism, and reduced inflammation and oxidative stress, demonstrating its potential as a novel functional tea for metabolic disorder prevention.
Keywords: Pangxiejiao, High-fat and high-fructose diet, metabolic disorders, Gut Microbiota, Metabolomics
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhu, Yang, Huang, XIAO and Shenghua. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
XUE XIAO, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology Candidate Drug Research, School of Life Science and Biopharmaceuticals, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
Piao Shenghua, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology Candidate Drug Research, School of Life Science and Biopharmaceuticals, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
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