Tyrosol ameliorates the symptoms of obesity, promotes adipose thermogenesis, and modulates the composition of gut microbiota in HFD fed mice.

SCOPE: Consumption of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is beneficial for weight control. Tyrosol is one of the main polyphenolic compounds in EVOO and its role in combating obesity is unknown. Thus, this study was designed to investigate the effect of tyrosol consumption on obesity and its underlying mechanisms in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced mice.

METHODS AND RESULTS: After supplementation with 0.2% (wt/wt) tyrosol for 16 weeks, the final body weight, and the levels of plasma triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and fasting glucose were significantly decreased when compared with HFD group. Furthermore, tyrosol might act as a ligand which binds with nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) with an optimal docking energy of -5.03kJ/mol. Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), iodothyronine deiodinase 2 (DIO2), PPAR-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) and PR domain containing 16 (PRDM16), the downstream genes of PPARα which are related to thermogenic function of adipocytes, were significantly increased in both brown adipose tissue (BAT) and inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) after tyrosol administration, compared to HFD fed mice. In addition, tyrosol changed the community composition of gut microbiota, including decreasing the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes, and increasing the relative abundance of family muribaculaceae, genus Blautia and Lachnospiraceae_bacterium_28_4.

CONCLUSION: Tyrosol consumption attenuates obesity and related symptoms in HFD-fed mice probably via the modulation of PPARα-thermogenesis and gut microbiota. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.