Abstract:Objective: To explore the anti-obesity effect of Monascus-fermented Radix Puerariae extracts(MRPE) on high-fat induced obese C57BL/6J mice. Method. Thirty-two C57BL/6J mice were fed with high-fat diet to induce obesity. Then, the 32 obese mice were irrigated with distilled water (HF group, n = 8), Monacolin K (MK group, n = 8), normal dose of MRPE (MRPE-C group, n = 8), and high dose of MRPE(MRPE-H group, n = 8), respectively. After 4 weeks, the body weights, body lengths, abdominal fat, body-fat ratio and Lee’s index were recorded. Moreover, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL and serum lipopolysaccharide (LBP) were also measured. Results Compared with HF group, the body weight, body-fat ratio, Lee’s index, the serum contents of TC, TG and LBP of the mice from both MRPE-C group and MRPE-H group were reduced (P<0.05). The serum HDL-C levels were also increased by MRPE treatment (P<0.05). Moreover, high dose of MRPE treatment could significantly reduce the serum LDL-C level of mice (P<0.05). In general, a dose-dependent anti-obesity effect of MRPE was observed. Compared with MRPE-C group, body-fat ratio and serum LDL-C level of the mice treated with high dose of MRPE were reduced by 20.43% and 8.22%, respectively. In addition, the anti-obesity and lipid profile modification effect of high dose of MRPE was similar to Monacolin K. Conclusion MRPE can alleviate fat accumulation and reduce body weights of high-fat induced obese mice effectively, which indicated the anti-obesity effect of MRPE.