State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Am J Chin Med. 2013;41(3):487-502. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X13500353.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a major challenge to the healthcare system. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of the triterpenoid-rich fraction (TF) from Ilex hainanensis Merr. on NAFLD. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were fed a normal diet (control) or high fat diet (NAFLD model). After four weeks, the high fat diet group was orally administrated TF (250 mg/kg) for another two weeks. High fat diet fed rats displayed hyperlipidemia and a decline in liver function compared with control. However, administration with TF could effectively improve these symptoms, as demonstrated by decreasing the plasma levels of triglyceride (p <0.05), total cholesterol (p < 0.01), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.05), alanine transaminase (p < 0.05), aspartate aminotransferase (p < 0.01), liver index (p < 0.05) and insulin resistance index (p < 0.05) while increasing the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, histopathological examination of livers also showed that TF could reduce the incidence of liver lesions induced by high fat diet. Furthermore, TF could alleviate oxidative stress and inflammation status indicated by the decline malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase levels (p < 0.01, both) and levels of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (p < 0.05). In addition, immunohistochemistry showed TF evidently elevated the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARα) expression (p < 0.01), while it diminished the Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) expression (p < 0.01) in liver. These results demonstrate that TF has potential ability to protect liver against NAFLD by regulating lipids metabolism and alleviating insulin resistance, inflammation and oxidative stress. This effect might be associated with regulating PPARα and CYP2E1 expression.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）已成为医疗保健系统的主要挑战。本研究旨在评估冬青属植物海南冬青三萜类丰富部位（TF）对 NAFLD 的影响。雄性 Sprague-Dawley（SD）大鼠喂食正常饮食（对照）或高脂肪饮食（NAFLD 模型）。四周后，高脂肪饮食组经口给予 TF（250mg/kg），再持续两周。与对照组相比，高脂肪饮食喂养的大鼠表现出高脂血症和肝功能下降。然而，给予 TF 可有效改善这些症状，表现为降低血浆甘油三酯水平（p<0.05）、总胆固醇（p<0.01）、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（p<0.05）、丙氨酸转氨酶（p<0.05）、天冬氨酸转氨酶（p<0.01）、肝指数（p<0.05）和胰岛素抵抗指数（p<0.05），同时增加高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（p<0.05）。同时，肝脏组织学检查还表明，TF 可降低高脂肪饮食诱导的肝损伤发生率。此外，TF 可减轻氧化应激和炎症状态，表现为丙二醛和超氧化物歧化酶水平（p<0.01，均）以及白细胞介素 6 和肿瘤坏死因子-α（p<0.05）水平降低。此外，免疫组织化学显示 TF 明显升高过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体（PPARα）表达（p<0.01），同时降低细胞色素 P450 2E1（CYP2E1）表达（p<0.01）。这些结果表明，TF 通过调节脂质代谢和减轻胰岛素抵抗、炎症和氧化应激来保护肝脏免受 NAFLD 的影响。这种作用可能与调节 PPARα 和 CYP2E1 表达有关。
