Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Obesity has become the main public health issue nowadays with poor control and has been associated with increased risk of multiorgan disease, but the specific mechanism and effective medication are still to be addressed. Sheng-jiang powder (SJP) showed great potential in preventing obesity in Chinese researches but has no trace in English reports. This study was designed to investigate the effect of SJP on obesity and obesity-mediated multiorgan injuries. METHODS: Rats were randomized into normal group (NG), obese group (OG), and SJP treatment group (SG). Obesity was induced by high-fat diet feeding. Rats were gavaged with SJP/normal saline daily from the third week and all rats were sacrificed after 12 weeks' feeding. Tissues were obtained for cytokines tests. RESULTS: Firstly, high-fat diet feeding led to significant obesity. Compared to NG, the level of SOD in the liver, spleen, lung, and kidney was much lower in OG (p < 0.05), while the pathological scores of pancreas, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney were much higher. SJP significantly increased SOD level in the liver, spleen, and lung and reduced the pathological scores of pancreas, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney correspondingly (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: SJP ameliorates inflammatory response and mitigates obesity-induced multiple organ injuries.