Comparative effects of aged and newly produced white tea on glucose and lipid metabolism and the gut microbiota in mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity.
5 affiliations
- 1Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China.
- 2State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Germplasm Innovation and Resource Utilization, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China.
- 3Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha, Hunan, 410128, China.
- 4National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingredients, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China.
- 5Tea Industry Development Center of Zhenghe County, China.
Abstract
With the global prevalence of obesity continuing to rise, white tea has attracted increasing attention as a potential dietary strategy for metabolic health. However, it remains unclear whether prolonged storage and the accompanying chemical transformations alter its metabolic benefits. To address above puzzle, high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were provided ad libitum with infusions of a 10-year-aged white tea (AWT) and newly produced white tea (NWT) for 4 weeks. Both teas ameliorated disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism, accompanied by remodeling of the gut microbiota, attenuation of metabolic endotoxemia, and changes in the serum metabolites. Shared responses included reductions in lactate and glycerophospholipid-related metabolites, decreased Solibacillus abundance, and modulation of glycerophospholipid metabolism. However, the two teas showed distinct phenotypic effects. AWT exerted stronger hepatoprotective and lipid-protective effects, as indicated by reductions in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), whereas NWT produced greater reductions in body weight. These differences were associated with distinct chemical profiles: AWT rich in gallic acid (GA), caffeine, thearubigins (TRs), and theabrownin (TB), whereas NWT rich in levels of tea polyphenols, free amino acid, theobromine and catechins. Correlation analyses further associated AWT-enriched constituents with increased Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group abundance and serum azelaic acid, whereas NWT-associated bioactives correlated positively with betaine and NWT selectively enriched Akkermansia. Together, these findings indicate that storage-related chemical changes are associated with distinct metabolic effects of white tea while also revealing shared microbiota- and metabolite-related responses.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026comparative,
title = {{Comparative effects of aged and newly produced white tea on glucose and lipid metabolism and the gut microbiota in mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity.}},
author = {Linmei Liu and Hongzhe Zeng and Liwei Wan and Liyuan Peng and Qixian Bai and Xiaomei Yang and Hui Li and Hui Rao and Linlin Li and Xingrui Xiong and Huazhu Yu and Xuyi Zheng and Jian'an Huang and Zhonghua Liu},
journal = {Current research in food science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.crfs.2026.101597},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42926917},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Comparative effects of aged and newly produced white tea on glucose and lipid metabolism and the gut microbiota in mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity.
AU - Linmei Liu
AU - Hongzhe Zeng
AU - Liwei Wan
AU - Liyuan Peng
AU - Qixian Bai
AU - Xiaomei Yang
AU - Hui Li
AU - Hui Rao
AU - Linlin Li
AU - Xingrui Xiong
AU - Huazhu Yu
AU - Xuyi Zheng
AU - Jian'an Huang
AU - Zhonghua Liu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Current research in food science
DO - 10.1016/j.crfs.2026.101597
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42926917
AB - With the global prevalence of obesity continuing to rise, white tea has attracted increasing attention as a potential dietary strategy for metabolic health. However, it remains unclear whether prolonged storage and the accompanying chemical transformations alter its metabolic benefits. To address above puzzle, high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were provided ad libitum with infusions of a 10-year-aged white tea (AWT) and newly produced white tea (NWT) for 4 weeks. Both teas ameliorated disturbances in glucose and lipid metabolism, accompanied by remodeling of the gut microbiota, attenuation of metabolic endotoxemia, and changes in the serum metabolites. Shared responses included reductions in lactate and glycerophospholipid-related metabolites, decreased Solibacillus abundance, and modulation of glycerophospholipid metabolism. However, the two teas showed distinct phenotypic effects. AWT exerted stronger hepatoprotective and lipid-protective effects, as indicated by reductions in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), whereas NWT produced greater reductions in body weight. These differences were associated with distinct chemical profiles: AWT rich in gallic acid (GA), caffeine, thearubigins (TRs), and theabrownin (TB), whereas NWT rich in levels of tea polyphenols, free amino acid, theobromine and catechins. Correlation analyses further associated AWT-enriched constituents with increased Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group abundance and serum azelaic acid, whereas NWT-associated bioactives correlated positively with betaine and NWT selectively enriched Akkermansia. Together, these findings indicate that storage-related chemical changes are associated with distinct metabolic effects of white tea while also revealing shared microbiota- and metabolite-related responses.
SN - 2665-9271
ER -