title: Targeting Obesity for the Prevention of Chronic Cardiovascular Disease Through Gut Microbiota-Herb Interactions: An Opportunity for Traditional Herbs.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease still remains the primary cause of death worldwide and obesity is becoming recognized as one of the most critical contributing risk factors. The increased prevalence of obesity casts a cloud over the global health and the whole societies and will still be burdened in the future. Therefore, prevention and therapy of obesity is a beneficial strategy for the prevention of chronic cardiovascular disease. Numerous studies have demonstrated that gut microbiota takes part in human health and disease including obesity. Traditional herbs hold great potential to improve people's health and wellness, particularly in the area of chronic inflammatory diseases although the mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. Emerging explorations of gut microbiotaherb interactions provide a potential to revolutionize the way we view herbal therapeutics. This review summarizes the experimental studies performed on animals and humans regarding the gut microbiota-herb interactions targeting obesity. This review also discusses the opportunity of herbs with potent activities but low oral bioavailability conundrum for prevention and therapy for obesity and related cardiovascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of R&D of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical College, Haikou. China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Hainan Medical College, 3 Xueyuan Road, Haikou 571199. China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. China.
authors.forename: Dan-Dan
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of R&D of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical College, Haikou. China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of R&D of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical College, Haikou. China.
authors.forename: Yong-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of R&D of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical College, Haikou. China.
authors.forename: Jun-Qing
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for DMPK Research of Herbal Medicines, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai. China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163. United States.
authors.forename: Tengfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects*; D029001:Herbal Medicine; D006801:Humans; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Obesity; cardiovascular disease; gut microbiota; gut microbiota-herb interactions; microbiota
  availability; oral availability conundrum