Ahn Tae-Gue, Lee Joo-Young, Cheon Se-Yun, An Hyo-Jin, Kook Yoon-Bum
Department of Presctiption, College of Oriental Medicine, Sangji University, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do 220-702, Republic of Korea.
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Dec 23;13:366. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-366.
Sam-Hwang-Sa-Sim-Tang (SHSST) is a traditional Oriental medication that has been commonly used in Korea for the treatment of hypertension, insomnia, and chest pain. In addition, some studies reported that administration of SHSST results suppression of hyperlipidemia in rats or lowering lipid plasma level such as total cholesterol (TC). Those results made us find and demonstrate positive effect of SHSST much more. The aim of the current study was to examine whether SHSST exerts an effect against hepatic steatosis and two type of SHSST has different efficacy on liver steatosis.
Total 40 mice were divided randomly and equally into 4 groups: a normal diet (CON) group, high-cholesterol diet (HC) group, and treatment groups fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) with a 30% or 80% ethanol extract of SHSST (SHSST-L and SHSST-H, respectively). The HCD was given for 9 weeks. The SHSST-treated groups were orally administered SHSST at a dose of 150 mg/kg, whereas the other groups received physiological saline.
SHSST administration to mice resulted in a decline in serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein. Histological examination showed that lipid droplets were smaller in the SHSST-treated group than in the HC group. At the protein level, expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2) was suppressed by SHSST. In addition, the mRNA expression of cholesterol metabolism-related molecules such as SREBP-2, liver X receptor (LXR), low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), and 3-hydroxy-3methylglutary-CoA (HMG-CoA) was also suppressed in SHSST-treated groups in the liver. In the aorta tissue, SHSST decreased the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and fibronectin.
The present study indicates that SHSST protects against liver steatosis and protects vessels against inflammation arising from excessive ingestion of cholesterol. These findings may also suggest that SHSST could be used as an adjuvant remedy for protection against liver steatosis.
三黄四辛汤（SHSST）是一种传统的东方药物，在韩国常用于治疗高血压、失眠和胸痛。此外，一些研究报告称，给予三黄四辛汤可抑制大鼠的高脂血症或降低血脂水平，如总胆固醇（TC）。这些结果促使我们进一步发现并证明三黄四辛汤的积极作用。本研究的目的是探讨三黄四辛汤是否对肝脂肪变性有作用，以及两种类型的三黄四辛汤对肝脂肪变性的疗效是否不同。
将40只小鼠随机平均分为4组：正常饮食（CON）组、高胆固醇饮食（HC）组以及用30%或80%三黄四辛汤乙醇提取物喂养高胆固醇饮食（HCD）的治疗组（分别为SHSST-L组和SHSST-H组）。给予高胆固醇饮食9周。三黄四辛汤治疗组以150mg/kg的剂量口服三黄四辛汤，而其他组给予生理盐水。
给小鼠服用三黄四辛汤导致血清总胆固醇和低密度脂蛋白水平下降。组织学检查显示，三黄四辛汤治疗组的脂滴比高胆固醇饮食组小。在蛋白质水平上，三黄四辛汤抑制了固醇调节元件结合蛋白2（SREBP-2）的表达。此外，肝脏中三黄四辛汤治疗组中胆固醇代谢相关分子如SREBP-2、肝X受体（LXR）、低密度脂蛋白受体（LDLR）和3-羟基-3-甲基戊二酰辅酶A（HMG-CoA）的mRNA表达也受到抑制。在主动脉组织中，三黄四辛汤降低了肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、细胞间黏附分子-1（ICAM-1）、血管细胞黏附分子-1（VCAM-1）、转化生长因子（TGF）-β1和纤连蛋白的表达。
本研究表明，三黄四辛汤可预防肝脂肪变性，并保护血管免受因过量摄入胆固醇引起的炎症。这些发现也可能表明，三黄四辛汤可作为预防肝脂肪变性的辅助治疗药物。
