Obesity is an increasing health problem worldwide as it is the major risk factor for
metabolic diseases. In the present study, we investigated the anti-
obesity effects of WHS by examining its effects on high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed either a normal diet (ND) or a high fat diet (HFD) with or without WHS. At the end of the experiment, we observed the changes in their
body weight and white adipose tissue (WAT) weight and
lipid profiles in plasma. We performed western blot and histological analyses of WAT and liver to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of action. We also conducted fecal
16S rRNA analysis for investigating the gut microbiota. Our results indicated that pre- and post-
oral administration of WHS significantly prevented
body weight gain and reduced body fat weight in HFD-induced obese mice. In addition, WHS was found to improve adipocyte
hypertrophy and liver fat accumulation by regulating the AMPK and AKT/mTOR pathways. WHS ameliorated
hyperlipidemia by reducing total
cholesterol and
low-density lipoprotein (
LDL) and decreased the energy metabolism-related
hormones,
leptin and
insulin, in mouse plasma. Furthermore, we found that WHS modulated gut
dysbiosis by normalizing HFD-induced changes. Taken together, our in vivo data implicate that WHS can be considered as a potential dietary supplement for alleviating
obesity.