ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1608582
Red Yeast Rice Extract Improves Lipid Metabolism by Modulating Gut Microbiota in High-Fat Diet Mice
Provisionally accepted
Peng Hu1Li Zhang2*Hongtao Hu3
Di Wang1
Jenny Chan1Jinghuan Xiao4
Hang Wu1
Luming Qi1Kaihua Qin1Xiaohong Zuo1*
Juan Li1*- 1Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan Tourism University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- 3Department of Spinal Surgery, Shandong Second Medical University Affiliated Hospital, Tai'an City, Shandong Province, Tai’an, Shandong, China
- 4Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States
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As a traditional food-medicine dual-purpose substance, red yeast rice (RYR) has gained wide attention for its lipid-lowering activity. However, existing studies mainly focus on the liver-targeted effects of statin-like components, with limited systematic insights into its lipid metabolism regulation via gut microbiota. This study combines high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemia mouse models, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, untargeted metabolomics, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to investigate the potential of RYR extract in improving lipid metabolism through gut microbiota modulation. The results showed that RYR extract significantly improved body weight, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, and hepatic lipid deposition in HFD-fed mice. Additionally, RYR extract effectively restored the intestinal structural damage and enhanced intestinal barrier function. 16S rRNA revealed that RYR extract significantly modulated the gut microbiota, increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and restoring the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidota. Metabolomics analysis revealed that RYR extract significantly modulated the gut microbiota-derived metabolites, particularly in the tryptophan metabolism and phenylalanine metabolism.FMT experiments showed that the fecal microbiota from RYR-treated group obviously improved the blood lipid levels, liver pathology, and intestinal function in HFD-fed mice. These results suggest that RYR extract improves lipid metabolism through the modulation of gut microbiota and related metabolic pathways, which provides new insights into the mechanism research of RYR's lipid-lowering effect.
Keywords: Red yeast rice, high-fat diet, Lipid Metabolism, Gut Microbiota, intestinal barrier
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 10 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Zhang, Hu, Wang, Chan, Xiao, Wu, Qi, Qin, Zuo and Li. 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:
Li Zhang, Sichuan Tourism University, Chengdu, 610100, Sichuan, China
Xiaohong Zuo, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Juan Li, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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