Background

Ginseng has therapeutic potential for treating obesity and the associated gut microbiota dysbiosis. However, whether white ginseng and red ginseng, the two kinds of commonly used processed ginseng, possess different anti-obesity effects remains unknown.

Purpose

Anti-obesity effects of water extracts of white ginseng and red ginseng (WEWG and WERG) were compared, and the potential mechanisms were discussed.

Methods

Chemical profiles of WEWG and WERG were characterized by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS) and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC-ELSD). Anti-obesity effects of WEWG/WERG were examined by determining fat accumulation, systemic inflammation, enteric metabolic disorders and gut microbiota dysbiosis in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice.

Results

Both WEWG and WERG exerted anti-obesity effects, with WEWG stronger than WERG. Compared to WERG, WEWG contained less contents of carbohydrates (polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, free monosaccharides) and ginsenosides, but chemical structures or compositions of these components in WEWG were characteristic, i.e. narrower molecular weight distribution and higher molar ratios of glucose residues of polysaccharides; higher content ratios of oligosaccharides DP2–3 (di-/tri-saccharides)-to-oligosaccharides DP4–7 (tetra-/penta-/hexa-/hepta-saccharides), sucrose-to-melibiose, maltose-to-trehalose and high-polar-to-low-polar ginsenosides. WEWG better ameliorated fat accumulation, enteric metabolic disorders and gut microbiota dysbiosis in HFD-fed obese mice than WERG.

Conclusion

The stronger anti-obesity effect of white ginseng appears to correlate with differences in its chemical profile as compared to red ginseng. The carbohydrates and ginsenosides in WEWG potentially present more structural and compositional specificity to the obesity-associated gut bacteria, allowing more beneficial effects of WEWG on the gut microbiota dysbiosis. This consequently better alleviates the enteric metabolic disorders and systemic inflammation, thereby contributing to the stronger anti-obesity effect of WEWG as compared to WERG.

中文翻译：

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白参比红参具有更强的抗肥胖作用，其潜在机制涉及对肠道菌群的化学结构/组成特异性。

背景

人参具有治疗肥胖症和相关的肠道菌群失调的治疗潜力。然而，白参和红参这两种常用的加工人参是否具有不同的抗肥胖作用仍是未知的。

目的

比较了白参和红参水提取物（WEWG和WERG）的抗肥胖作用，并探讨了其潜在的机理。

方法

WEWG和WERG的化学特征通过超高效液相色谱-串联三重四极杆质谱（UHPLC-QqQ-MS / MS）和高效液相色谱结合蒸发光散射检测器（HPLC-ELSD）进行表征。通过确定高脂饮食（HFD）喂养的肥胖小鼠的脂肪堆积，全身性炎症，肠代谢紊乱和肠道菌群失调来检查WEWG / WERG的抗肥胖作用。

结果

WEWG和WERG都发挥了抗肥胖作用，其中WEWG比WERG更强。与WERG相比，WEWG包含的碳水化合物（多糖，低聚糖，游离单糖）和人参皂苷含量较少，但WEWG中这些成分的化学结构或组成具有特征性，即分子量分布较窄，多糖的葡萄糖残基摩尔比较高；寡糖DP2–3（二糖/三糖）与寡糖DP4–7（四糖/五糖/六糖/庚糖），蔗糖至黑糖，麦芽糖至海藻糖和高极性至低极性人参皂甙。与喂食高脂饮食的肥胖小鼠相比，WEWG可以更好地改善脂肪堆积，肠道代谢紊乱和肠道菌群失调。

结论

与红参相比，白参的更强的抗肥胖作用似乎与其化学特征的差异有关。WEWG中的碳水化合物和人参皂甙可能对与肥胖相关的肠道细菌表现出更多的结构和组成特异性，从而使WEWG对肠道菌群失调具有更多的有益作用。因此，与WERG相比，这更好地减轻了肠代谢紊乱和全身性炎症，从而促进了WEWG的更强的抗肥胖作用。