Geranylgeraniol and Green Tea Polyphenols Mitigate Negative Effects of a High-Fat Diet on Skeletal Muscle and the Gut Microbiome in Male C57BL/6J Mice.

Natural bioactive compounds are proposed as alternatives in mitigating obesity-associated skeletal muscle dysfunction. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the combination of geranylgeraniol (GGOH) and green tea polyphenols (GTPs) can alleviate high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced muscle atrophy and alter gut microbiome composition. Male C57BL/6J mice fed an HFD were assigned to four groups (12 mice each) in a 2 (no GGOH vs. 400 mg GGOH/kg diet) × 2 (no GTPs vs. 0.5% weight/volume GTPs in water) factorial design. After 14 weeks of diet intervention, skeletal muscle and cecal samples were collected and examined. Compared to the control groups, the group that consumed a combination of GGOH and GTPs (GG + GTPs) had significantly decreased body and fat mass but increased skeletal muscle mass normalized by body weight and cross-sectional area. In soleus muscle, the GG + GTP diet increased citrate synthase activity but decreased lipid peroxidation. Gut microbiome beta-diversity analysis revealed a significant difference in the microbiome composition between diet groups. At the species level, the GG + GTP diet decreased the relative abundance of Dorea longicatena , Sporobacter termitidis , and Clostridium methylpentosum , and increased that of Akkermansia muciniphila and Subdoligranulum variabile . These results suggest that the addition of GGOH and GTPs to an HFD alleviates skeletal muscle atrophy, which is associated with changes in the gut microbiome composition.