Green tea polyphenols benefits body composition and improves bone quality in long-term high-fat diet–induced obese rats

This study investigates the effects of green tea polyphenols (GTPs) on body composition and bone properties along with mechanisms in obese female rats. Thirty-six 3-month-old Sprague Dawley female rats were fed either a low-fat (LF) or a high-fat (HF) diet for 4 months. Animals in the LF diet group continued on an LF diet for additional 4 months, whereas those in the HF diet group were divided into 2 groups: with GTP (0.5%) or without in drinking water, in addition to an HF diet for another 4 months. Body composition, femur bone mass and strength, serum endocrine and proinflammatory cytokines, and liver glutathione peroxidase (GPX) protein expression were determined. We hypothesized that supplementation of GTP in drinking water would benefit body composition, enhance bone quality, and suppress obesity-related endocrines in HF diet–induced obese female rats and that such changes are related to an elevation of antioxidant capacity and a reduction of proinflammatory cytokine production. After 8 months, compared with the LF diet, the HF diet increased percentage of fat mass and serum insulin–like growth factor I and leptin levels; reduced percentage of fat-free mass, bone strength, and GPX protein expression; but had no effect on bone mineral density and serum adiponectin levels in the rats. Green tea polyphenol supplementation increased percentage of fat-free mass, bone mineral density and strength, and GPX protein expression and decreased percentage of fat mass, serum insulin–like growth factor I, leptin, adiponectin, and proinflammatory cytokines in the obese rats. This study shows that GTP supplementation benefited body composition and bone properties in obese rats possibly through enhancing antioxidant capacity and suppressing inflammation.