Long-Term Green Tea Supplementation Does Not Change the Human Gut Microbiota

Pilou L H R Janssens, John Penders, Rick Hursel, Andries E Budding, Paul H M Savelkoul, Margriet S Westerterp-Plantenga, Pilou L H R Janssens, John Penders, Rick Hursel, Andries E Budding, Paul H M Savelkoul, Margriet S Westerterp-Plantenga

Abstract

Background: Green tea catechins may play a role in body weight regulation through interactions with the gut microbiota.

Aim: We examined whether green tea supplementation for 12 weeks induces changes in composition of the human gut microbiota.

Methods: 58 Caucasian men and women were included in a randomized, placebo-controlled design. For 12 weeks, subjects consumed either green tea (>0.56 g/d epigallocatechin-gallate + 0.28 ∼ 0.45 g/d caffeine) or placebo capsules. Fecal samples were collected twice (baseline, vs. week 12) for analyses of total bacterial profiles by means of IS-profiling, a 16S-23S interspacer region-based profiling method.

Results: No significant changes between baseline and week 12 in subjects receiving green tea or placebo capsules, and no significant interactions between treatment (green tea or placebo) and time (baseline and week 12) were observed for body composition. Analysis of the fecal samples in subjects receiving green tea and placebo showed similar bacterial diversity and community structures, indicating there were no significant changes in bacterial diversity between baseline and week 12 in subjects receiving green tea capsules or in subjects receiving placebo capsules. No significant interactions were observed between treatment (green tea or placebo) and time (baseline and week 12) for the gut microbial diversity. Although, there were no significant differences between normal weight and overweight subjects in response to green tea, we did observe a reduced bacterial alpha diversity in overweight as compared to normal weight subjects (p = 0.002).

Conclusion: Green tea supplementation for 12 weeks did not have a significant effect on composition of the gut microbiota.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01556321.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: P.L.H.R. Janssens, J. Penders, R. Hursel, and M.S. Westerterp-Plantenga have no conflicts of interest. A.E. Budding and P.H.M. Savelkoul have proprietary rights on the IS-pro platform technology. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1. CONSORT flow diagram.
Fig 1. CONSORT flow diagram.
Fig 2. BMI categories: BMI 18–25 kg/m…
Fig 2. BMI categories: BMI 18–25 kg/m2 (Mdn = 3.78, n = 43) vs. BMI ≥25 kg/m2 (Mdn = 3.52, n = 17).
All Phyla combined, Shannon diversity index using Mann-Whitney test, *p = 0.002.
Fig 3. Box plots, comparisons of the…
Fig 3. Box plots, comparisons of the between-sample diversity in green tea and placebo as calculated by Bray Curtis dissimilarity.
Beta diversity captures the dissimilarity in microbial composition of the groups between baseline and week 12.
Fig 4. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) plots…
Fig 4. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) plots of Bray Curtis distances between samples, with the %explained variance by the principle coordinates.
PCoA per phylum, Bray Curtis, log2, n = 58.

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