ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
This article is part of the Research TopicPrevention and Treatment of Metabolic Diseases Using Bioactive Metabolites of Herbal Medicines Also Used as FoodsView all 15 articles
Rhein Ameliorates Inflammation, Gut Dysbiosis, and Renal Injury in Obesity-Related Glomerulopathy Mice
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Third Affiliated Hospital of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fujian, China
- 2Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China
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Objective: Obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG) lacks targeted therapies. Rhein, a bioactive anthraquinone from Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, was evaluated for its effects on inflammation, renal function, and gut microbiota in high-fat diet-induced ORG mice. Methods: C57BL/6J mice were fed a 60% fat diet for 12 weeks to establish ORG, followed by 300 mg/kg/day rhein free intake for 12 weeks. Serum cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α), renal histopathology, and 16S rRNA microbiome sequencing were analyzed. Results: Rhein significantly reduced body weight (P<0.001), serum triglycerides (P<0.01), and proteinuria (P<0.001), while improving glomerular lesions. It also markedly lowered serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and creatinine. 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that rhein restored gut microbiota diversity (e.g., Chao1 index increased from 303.58 to 425.78) and reversed the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes imbalance (76.86% to 62.15%). Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) further confirmed a significant difference in microbial community structure between the Rhein and Model groups (R = 0.926, p = 0.008). Conclusions: Rhein mitigates ORG progression is associated with anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, and microbiota-modulating mechanisms, offering a novel therapeutic strategy.
Keywords: Rhein, Obesity-related glomerulopathy, Gut Microbiota, Inflammation, Lipid Metabolism
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Wei, Ge, Yu, Li, Zhao and Lai. 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:
Lifang Wei, liwlf2008@gmail.com
Li Ge, 2000005@fjtcm.edu.cn
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