title: Melatonin prevents obesity through modulation of gut microbiota in mice.
abstract: Excess weight and obesity are severe public health threats worldwide. Recent evidence demonstrates that gut microbiota dysbiosis contributes to obesity and its comorbidities. The body weight-reducing and energy balancing effects of melatonin have been reported in several studies, but to date, no investigations toward examining whether the beneficial effects of melatonin are associated with gut microbiota have been carried out. In this study, we show that melatonin reduces body weight, liver steatosis, and low-grade inflammation as well as improving insulin resistance in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. High-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA demonstrated that melatonin treatment significantly changed the composition of the gut microbiota in mice fed an HFD. The richness and diversity of gut microbiota were notably decreased by melatonin. HFD feeding altered 69 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) compare with a normal chow diet (NCD) group, and melatonin supplementation reversed 14 OTUs to the same configuration than those present in the NCD group, thereby impacting various functions, in particular through its ability to decrease the Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio and increase the abundance of mucin-degrading bacteria Akkermansia, which is associated with healthy mucosa. Taken together, our results suggest that melatonin may be used as a probiotic agent to reverse HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and help us to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms governing the various melatonin beneficial effects.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jialin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory for Cell Proliferation and Regulation Biology of State Education Ministry, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Gene Resource and Molecular Development, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory for Cell Proliferation and Regulation Biology of State Education Ministry, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yonggong
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9512-8028
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D041963:Bacteroidetes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D000068536:Bacillota / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects*; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D008550:Melatonin
keywords: gut microbiota; inflammation; insulin resistance; liver steatosis; melatonin; obesity