Yellow Tea Stimulates Thermogenesis in Mice through Heterogeneous Browning of Adipose Tissues

Abstract

Scope Large‐leaf yellow tea (YT) exhibits interesting beneficial metabolic effects in previous studies. Here, the authors elucidated the actions of YT on thermogenesis, energy metabolism, and adipocyte metabolic conversion. Methods and Results Five‐week‐old male C57BL/6 mice are fed low‐fat diet, high‐fat diet (HFD), and HFD supplemented with 0.5% or 2.5% YT. After treatment for 10 or 14 weeks, YT enhances energy expenditure, O2 consumption and CO2 production. YT strongly boosts thermogenic program in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), while only weakly in epididymal adipose tissue (EAT). These are accompanied by higher body temperature, increased mitochondrial copy numbers, and upregulation of thermogenic genes (Ucp1, Pgc1α, etc.) and proteins. The classic brown adipocyte markers (Eva1, Zic1) are induced only in BAT, while beige adipocyte markers (Tbx1, Tmem26) are boosted only in SAT. Furthermore, subcutaneous‐originated preadipocytes are induced by YT in vitro to differentiate to brown‐like adipocytes — a browning effect. Conclusion Dietary YT induces adaptive thermogenesis through increasing mitochondrial biogenesis in EAT, inducing beigeing in SAT and enhancing browning in the BAT.

Integrating metabolite and transcriptome analysis revealed the different mechanisms of characteristic compound biosynthesis and transcriptional regulation in tea flowers

“…It is important to research new applications of tea flowers for improving the economic value thereof. Large-leaf yellow tea (LYT) is one kind of yellow-type tea which has multiple health benefits, such as alleviating alcoholic liver disease and inhibiting adipose tissue hypertrophy ( Xu et al., 2021 ; Wang et al., 2022 ; Wu et al., 2022 ). However, LYT is made from old tea leaves and stems, leading to poor aroma and flavor or being unpopular.…”

An update on brown adipose tissue and obesity intervention: Function, regulation and therapeutic implications

“…Hypericin (HPF) extracted from Hypericum perforatum can directly target dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase to regulate AMPK-PGC1-α signal pathway, and finally upregulate the expression of UCP1, promote adipose tissue heat production ( 88 ). Large-leaf yellow tea extract can prevent the reduction of these genes that is induced by HFD (UCP1, PGC1-α) in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and BAT, promote the beige of SAT and activate the thermogenic function of BAT ( 89 ). Ephedrine may cause side effects, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, and may increase the number of metabolites in the circulatory system, but it does not activate brown fat in adults ( 101 ).…”

Large yellow tea polysaccharides ameliorate obesity-associated metabolic syndrome by promoting M2 polarization of adipose tissue macrophages

“…30 Xu et al proved that LYT increases energy expenditure and prevents body weight gain in HFD-fed mice. 31 However, which active ingredients play this role in LYT remains unclear. Moreover, the effect of LYP on energy metabolism in HFD-fed mice has not been reported.…”