{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T10:42:18Z","timestamp":1780051338790,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758672000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004663","name":"Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MOST 110-2320-B-038-048"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST 110-2320-B-038-048"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004663","name":"Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MOST 113-2320-B-038-040-MY2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST 113-2320-B-038-040-MY2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004663","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of matcha on lipid metabolism, insulin resistance (IR), inflammation, and gut dysbiosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) induced by a cafeteria diet. Methods: Forty-eight 7-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into six groups (n = 8), including a control group (C), C + 0.2% matcha group (C + 0.2%), C + 1% matcha group (C + 1%), cafeteria group (Caf), Caf + 0.2% matcha group (Caf + 0.2%), and Caf + 1% matcha group (Caf + 1%). All rats were sacrificed at the end of the 12th week of the experiment. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by a Fisher\u2019s post hoc test, was used to determine the significant differences among each of the groups. Results: The results indicated that plasma experiment triglycerides (TGs) significantly increased in the Caf group compared to the C group, and significantly decreased TG levels were found in the Caf + 1% group compared to the Caf group. In addition, the liver total cholesterol and TG had significantly increased in the Caf group, while the 0.2% Matcha intervention can mitigate hepatic lipid accumulation. Blood sugar, serum insulin, the homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR), and plasma leptin significantly increased in the Caf group and were significantly lower in the Caf + 0.2% and Caf + 1% groups. Hepatic cytokines significantly increased in the Caf group, while, on the other hand, significantly lower concentrations were found in the Caf + 1% group. In addition, beneficial bacteria including Akkermansia, Faecalibacterium, and Parabacteroides increased after matcha supplementation. Conclusions: These results suggested that 12 weeks of a cafeteria diet can induce abnormal lipid metabolism, IR, liver inflammation, and an altered gut microbiotic composition, while both the 0.2% and 1% matcha interventions might regulate obesity, lipid accumulation, IR, and inflammatory responses, and help maintain a healthier gut microbiota, which may then ameliorate the development of NAFLD.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17193051","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T13:16:11Z","timestamp":1758719771000},"page":"3051","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Matcha Green Tea Improves Cafeteria-Diet-Induced NAFLD by Modulating the Gut Microbiota in Rats"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Ho-Ching","family":"Chong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shu-Ting","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu-Chieh","family":"Tseng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1579-2165","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Suh-Ching","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yasuo","family":"Watanabe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"General Health Medical Center, Yokohama University of Pharmacy, Yokohama 245-0066, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shizuo","family":"Yamada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Pharma-Food Research, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Yokohama 422-8526, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7589-8527","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yu-Chen S. H.","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Joint Biobank, Office of Human Research, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ya-Ling","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S32","DOI":"10.3350\/cmh.2022.0365","article-title":"Global incidence and prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease","volume":"29","author":"Teng","year":"2023","journal-title":"Clin. Mol. Hepatol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pouwels, S., Sakran, N., Graham, Y., Leal, A., Pintar, T., Yang, W., Kassir, R., Singhal, R., Mahawar, K., and Ramnarain, D. (2022). Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): A review of pathophysiology, clinical management and effects of weight loss. BMC Endocr., 22.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12902-022-00980-1"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1186\/s13098-020-00570-y","article-title":"NAFLD as a continuum: From obesity to metabolic syndrome and diabetes","volume":"12","author":"Valerio","year":"2020","journal-title":"Diabetol. Metab. Syndr."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2005","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.25762","article-title":"The diagnosis and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Practice Guideline by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Gastroenterological Association","volume":"55","author":"Chalasani","year":"2012","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Y.-H., Wu, W.-K., and Wu, M.-S. (2020). Microbiota-associated therapy for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis-induced liver cancer: A review. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 21.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms21175999"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1007\/s00018-018-2947-0","article-title":"Molecular pathways of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease development and progression","volume":"76","author":"Bessone","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cell. Mol. Life Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20704","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms141020704","article-title":"Multiple hits, including oxidative stress, as pathogenesis and treatment target in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)","volume":"14","author":"Takaki","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Mol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2018\/9547613","article-title":"Role of oxidative stress in pathophysiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease","volume":"2018","author":"Masarone","year":"2018","journal-title":"Oxid. Med. Cell. Longev."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Adolph, T.E., Grander, C., Grabherr, F., and Tilg, H. (2017). Adipokines and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Multiple interactions. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 18.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms18081649"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yanai, H., and Yoshida, H. (2019). Beneficial effects of adiponectin on glucose and lipid metabolism and atherosclerotic progression: Mechanisms and perspectives. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 20.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms20051190"},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"818","article-title":"Understanding the effects of gut microbiota dysbiosis on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and the possible probiotics role: Recent updates","volume":"17","author":"Khan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Mol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"764","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.28356","article-title":"The severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with gut dysbiosis and shift in the metabolic function of the gut microbiota","volume":"63","author":"Boursier","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2020.11.003","article-title":"The cafeteria diet: A standardized protocol and its effects on behavior","volume":"122","author":"Lalanza","year":"2021","journal-title":"Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1038\/s41387-020-0127-4","article-title":"Biochemical and nutritional overview of diet-induced metabolic syndrome models in rats: What is the best choice?","volume":"10","author":"Carvajal","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nutr. Diabetes"},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"e60262","article-title":"Palatable western-style cafeteria diet as a reliable method for modeling diet-induced obesity in rodents","volume":"153","author":"Leigh","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Vis. Exp."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1007\/s11130-019-00777-z","article-title":"Matcha tea: Analysis of nutritional composition, phenolics and antioxidant activity","volume":"75","author":"Snopek","year":"2020","journal-title":"Plant Foods Hum. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kochman, J., Jakubczyk, K., Antoniewicz, J., Mruk, H., and Janda, K. (2020). Health benefits and chemical composition of matcha green tea: A review. Molecules, 26.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules26010085"},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"100396","article-title":"The therapeutic potential of matcha tea: A critical review on human and animal studies","volume":"23","author":"Sokary","year":"2022","journal-title":"Curr. Res. Food Sci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112230","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nut.2023.112230","article-title":"Consumption of a Taiwanese cafeteria diet induces metabolic disorders and fecal flora changes in obese rats","volume":"117","author":"Tseng","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nutrition"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liang, W., Menke, A.L., Driessen, A., Koek, G.H., Lindeman, J.H., Stoop, R., Havekes, L.M., Kleemann, R., and van den Hoek, A.M. (2014). Establishment of a general NAFLD scoring system for rodent models and comparison to human liver pathology. PLoS ONE, 9.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0115922"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Y.-L., Shirakawa, H., Lu, N.-S., Peng, H.-C., Xiao, Q., and Yang, S.-C. (2020). Impacts of fish oil on the gut microbiota of rats with alcoholic liver damage. J. Nutr. Biochem., 86.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jnutbio.2020.108491"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yang, Y.-C.S., Chang, H.-W., Lin, I.-H., Chien, L.-N., Wu, M.-J., Liu, Y.-R., Chu, P.G., Xie, G., Dong, F., and Jia, W. (2020). Long-term proton pump inhibitor administration caused physiological and microbiota changes in rats. Sci. Rep., 10.","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-57612-8"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"461","DOI":"10.1016\/0031-9384(76)90109-8","article-title":"Dietary obesity in adult rats: Similarities to hypothalamic and human obesity syndromes","volume":"17","author":"Sclafani","year":"1976","journal-title":"Physiol. Behav."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhou, J., Yu, Y., Ding, L., Xu, P., and Wang, Y. (2021). Matcha green tea alleviates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in high-fat diet-induced obese mice by regulating lipid metabolism and inflammatory responses. Nutrients, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13061950"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1039\/C5FO00828J","article-title":"The effects of the aqueous extract and residue of Matcha on the antioxidant status and lipid and glucose levels in mice fed a high-fat diet","volume":"7","author":"Xu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Food Funct."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ma\u0161ek, T., Bari\u0161i\u0107, J., Micek, V., and Star\u010devi\u0107, K. (2020). Cafeteria diet and high-fructose rodent models of NAFLD differ in the metabolism of important PUFA and palmitoleic acid without additional influence of sex. Nutrients, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/nu12113339"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Du, Y., Paglicawan, L., Soomro, S., Abunofal, O., Baig, S., Vanarsa, K., Hicks, J., and Mohan, C. (2021). Epigallocatechin-3-gallate dampens non-alcoholic fatty liver by modulating liver function, lipid profile, and macrophage polarization. Nutrients, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13020599"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sakurai, Y., Kubota, N., Yamauchi, T., and Kadowaki, T. (2021). Role of insulin resistance in MAFLD. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 22.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22084156"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xu, L., Nagata, N., and Ota, T. (2019). Impact of glucoraphanin-mediated activation of Nrf2 on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with a focus on mitochondrial dysfunction. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 20.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms20235920"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"251","DOI":"10.4093\/dmj.2017.41.4.251","article-title":"The effectiveness of green tea or green tea extract on insulin resistance and glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis","volume":"41","author":"Yu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Diabetes Metab. J."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"501","DOI":"10.1111\/jhn.12181","article-title":"Effects of green tea or green tea extract on insulin sensitivity and glycaemic control in populations at risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials","volume":"27","author":"Wang","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Hum. Nutr. Diet."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"969","DOI":"10.1136\/gut.2009.205088","article-title":"Disease progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A prospective study with paired liver biopsies at 3 years","volume":"59","author":"Wong","year":"2010","journal-title":"Gut"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e006040","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCEP.117.006040","article-title":"Interleukin 10 treatment ameliorates high-fat diet\u2013induced inflammatory atrial remodeling and fibrillation","volume":"11","author":"Kondo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Circ. Arrhythm. Electrophysiol."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"934","DOI":"10.1053\/j.gastro.2006.05.054","article-title":"Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Cytokine-adipokine interplay and regulation of insulin resistance","volume":"131","author":"Tilg","year":"2006","journal-title":"Gastroenterology"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.20280","article-title":"Beyond insulin resistance in NASH: TNF-\u03b1 or adiponectin?","volume":"40","author":"Hui","year":"2004","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fr\u00fchbeck, G., Catal\u00e1n, V., Rodr\u00edguez, A., Ram\u00edrez, B., Becerril, S., Salvador, J., Colina, I., and G\u00f3mez-Ambrosi, J. (2019). Adiponectin-leptin Ratio is a Functional Biomarker of Adipose Tissue Inflammation. Nutrients, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/nu11020454"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"569","DOI":"10.1080\/19490976.2019.1681861","article-title":"Lower gut microbiome diversity and higher abundance of proinflammatory genus Collinsella are associated with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic steatohepatitis","volume":"11","author":"Astbury","year":"2020","journal-title":"Gut Microbes"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yu, J., Sun, H., Yang, Y., and Yan, Y. (2022). Sesamolin alleviates nonalcoholic fatty liver disease through modulating gut microbiota and metabolites in high-fat and high-fructose diet-fed mice. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms232213853"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"134591","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2022.134591","article-title":"Tea polyphenol and epigallocatechin gallate ameliorate hyperlipidemia via regulating liver metabolism and remodeling gut microbiota","volume":"404","author":"Wen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hu, W., Gao, W., Liu, Z., Fang, Z., Wang, H., Zhao, J., Zhang, H., Lu, W., and Chen, W. (2022). Specific strains of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii ameliorate nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in mice in association with gut microbiota regulation. Nutrients, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/nu14142945"}],"container-title":["Nutrients"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-6643\/17\/19\/3051\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T18:49:04Z","timestamp":1760035744000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-6643\/17\/19\/3051"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]},"references-count":40,"journal-issue":{"issue":"19","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}},"alternative-id":["nu17193051"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/nu17193051","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-6643"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-6643","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]}}}