Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herb may Offer an Alternative Strategy to Fight Obesity

Burning energy by the activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT), through the use of an ginseng extract, might be an alternative approach for fighting obesity, reveals a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Gut.// Overweight and obesity have become a severe public health problem around the world. Current anti-obesity strategies are mainly aimed at restricting calorie intake and absorption.

The researchers found that an extract from ginseng, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herb, can induce Enterococcus faecalis, which can produce an unsaturated long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) - myristoleic acid (MA).

"As a novel anti-obesity probiotic, E. faecalis and MA can reduce adiposity via BAT activation and beige fat formation," said JIN Wanzhu, lead author of the study and a scientist at the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of sciences.

Previous studies have shown that BAT facilitates weight control and generates a potent anti-obesity effect. Therefore, increasing BAT activity could be a novel, and effective therapeutic approach for obesity and its related diseases said JIN.

This is the first proof that the E. faecalis LCFA (specifically MA) axis can reduce obesity by increasing BAT activity and beige fat formation. "This study demonstrates the important role of MA in reducing obesity and improving related metabolic syndrome, as well as its tremendous application prospects," said JIN.

Source-Eurekalert