ObjectivesIn this study, it was investigated whether Gami-Handayeolso-Tang (HDYST) medication has anti-obesity effects in high fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice.MethodsThe experimental animals were divided into five groups—normal diet-fed (ND), high fat diet-fed control (HFD), HFD＋HDYST 150, HFD＋HDYST 300, and HFD＋orlistat as a positive drug. The obese markers such as body weight, diet efficiency ratio, serum lev-els of total cholesterol, triglyceride, lipid contents, leptin, adiponectin, and GOT/GPT were measured. Also, white adipose tissue, liver weight, abdominal fat mass, hepatic lipid con-tents, and mRNA expression of obese-associating genes were examined in obese mice.ResultsIn high fat diet-fed mice, HDYST administration significantly decreased body weight, diet efficiency ratio, serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, as well as leptin and GOT/GPT, compared to the HFD group in a dose-dependent manner. HDYST increased significantly the serum levels of HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin. It also reduced the accumulation of lipids, such as total lipid and triglycerides, in organs such as liver and abdominal adipose tissue. Moreover, HDYST administration significantly de-creased the expression levels of fatty acid synthetic genes, such as sterol regulatory ele-ment-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), FAS and Stearoyl-Coenzyme A desaturase 1 (SCD-1), in the liver tissues, while it increased the messenger RAN (mRNA) levels of fatty acid catalytic genes, such as Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α), acyl-COA oxidase (ACO), and Carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1a (CPT-1a).ConclusionsBased on the results above, HDYST reveals anti-obesity effects declining body fat accumulation through the regulation of fatty acid metabolism and lep-tin/adiponectin serum levels. It therefore suggests that HDYST can be clinically useful for the treatment of obesity. (J Korean Med Rehab 2016;26(1):13-31)