Abstract: This study was intended to explore the regulatory effect of Pingyang yellow tea on high-fat diet (HDF)-induced obesity in rats and its relationship with the intestinal barrier and flora. SD male rats were divided into five groups: normal diet (ND), HFD, and low-, medium- and high-dose tea infusion (75, 150 and 300 mg/kg mb). The regulatory effect of Pingyang yellow tea on obesity was evaluated by analyzing the body mass changes, feed intake, visceral fat indexes, serum biochemical indexes, liver lipids and liver and colon tissue sections of rats. The intestinal barrier function was evaluated in terms of intestinal pathological morphology, the number of goblet cells, and the expression of tight junction proteins, and the effect on the diversity and structure of the intestinal flora was evaluated. The results showed that the high dose of Pingyang yellow tea significantly reduced body mass gain, epididymal fat mass perirenal fat mass of HFD rats (P < 0.01), lowered serum lipids, adipocytokines and oxidative stress levels (P < 0.01) as well as the levels of liver triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) (P < 0.01), and effectively regulated liver lipid accumulation and inflammatory damage. At the same time, high-dose Pingyang yellow tea also significantly improved colonic morphology in HFD-fed rats, reduced villus shedding and inflammatory cell infiltration, significantly restored the number of intestinal goblet cells, increased zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and occludin expression (P < 0.01), significantly decreased the levels of serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 (P < 0.01), effectively prevented metabolic endotoxins and systemic chronic inflammations, increased the abundance and diversity of the intestinal flora, promoted the proliferation of beneficial bacteria related to obesity, and inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria. In summary, Pingyang yellow tea can effectively prevent HFD-induced obesity by maintaining the intestinal barrier and regulating the disturbance of the intestinal flora.

Key words: Pingyang yellow tea; obesity; intestinal barrier; intestinal flora