Preventive Effect of Flavonol Derivatives Abundant Sanglan Tea on Long-Term High-Fat-Diet-Induced Obesity Complications in C57BL/6 Mice

Sanglan Tea (SLT) is a Chinese medicine-based formulation that is consumed as a health drink for the effective management of obesity-associated complications. However, its chemical components and mechanism of action in the prevention of hepatic steatosis and obesity-related impairments have been uncertain. In this study, we aimed to unveil the chemical profile of SLT and to explore its preventive mechanism in high-fat-diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and obesity-related consequences in C57BL/6 mice. Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a quadrupole-orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of SLT indicated that analogs of quercetin and kaempferol are major compounds of flavonoids in SLT. A dietary supplement of SLT efficiently managed the blood glucose elevation, retained the serum total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) levels, as well as aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, and reduced the fat storage in the liver induced by a high-fat diet. The underlying mechanism of this preventive effect is hypothesized to be related to the inhibition of over-expression of lipogenesis and adipogenesis-related genes. Overall, this study suggests that SLT, being rich in quercetin and kaempferol analogs, could be a potential food supplement for the prevention of high-fat-diet-induced NAFLD and obesity-related complications.