* Division of Basic Medical Science, Hungkuang University, No. 1018, Sec. 6, Taiwan Boulevard, Shalu District, Taichung City 43302, Taiwan.
† Institute of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Chung-Shan Medical University, Number 110, Section 1, Jiankuo North Road, Taichung 402, Taiwan.
Am J Chin Med. 2017;45(1):67-83. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X17500069.
Antrodia cinnamomea (AC), a protogenic fungus that only grows on the heartwood of endemic Cinnamomum kanehirae Hayata in Taiwan, is used to treat a variety of illness including liver disease. However, little is known about the benefit of AC against obesity and the related hepatic disorder. Using high-fat-diet (HFD) feed mice, we aimed to investigate whether the extract of AC (ACE) could reduce excessive weight, body fat, and serum lipids and prevent the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD). C57BL/6 mice were divided into five groups fed with different diets: control, HFD, and HFD with 0.5%, 1%, or 2% of ACE, respectively. After 10 weeks the animals were sacrificed, with serum and liver collected. HFD-induced elevation of body weight gain, body fat deposition, and serum free fatty acid (FFA), triacylglycerol (TGs), total cholesterol, and ratio of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C)/HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), were significantly restored by ACE. ACE reduced aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and hepatic lipid deposits increased by HFD. ACE increased p-AMP activated protein kinase (pAMPK) but decreased Sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP), fatty acid synthase (FAS), 1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (AGPAT), and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMGCoA) reductase. The chemical analysis reveals ACE is full of triterpenes, the most abundant of which is Antcin K, followed by sulphurenic acid, eburicoic acid, antcin C, dehydrosulphurenic acid, antcin B, and propanoic acid. In conclusion, ACE should be used to prevent obesity and derived fatty liver. The applicability of ACE on NAFLD deserves further investigation.
樟芝（Antrodia cinnamomea，AC）是一种原生真菌，仅生长在台湾特有肉桂树的心材上，用于治疗多种疾病，包括肝病。然而，对于 AC 防治肥胖及其相关肝障碍的益处知之甚少。我们使用高脂肪饮食（HFD）喂养的小鼠，旨在研究 AC 提取物（ACE）是否可以减轻体重过度、体脂肪和血清脂质，并预防非酒精性脂肪肝（NAFLD）的发生。将 C57BL/6 小鼠分为五组，分别用不同的饮食喂养：对照组、HFD 组和 HFD 组分别添加 0.5%、1%或 2%的 ACE。10 周后处死动物，收集血清和肝脏。ACE 显著恢复了 HFD 引起的体重增加、体脂肪沉积和血清游离脂肪酸（FFA）、三酰甘油（TGs）、总胆固醇和 LDL 胆固醇（LDL-C）/高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）的比值。ACE 降低了 HFD 引起的天冬氨酸转氨酶（AST）、丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）和肝脂质沉积。ACE 增加了 p-AMP 激活蛋白激酶（pAMPK），但降低了固醇调节元件结合蛋白（SREBP）、脂肪酸合酶（FAS）、1-酰基甘油-3-磷酸酰基转移酶（AGPAT）和 3-羟-3-甲基戊二酰辅酶 A（HMGCoA）还原酶。化学分析表明 ACE 富含三萜类化合物，其中含量最丰富的是 Antcin K，其次是硫磺酸、eburicoic 酸、antcin C、dehydrosulphurenic 酸、antcin B 和丙酸。总之，ACE 可用于预防肥胖和由此产生的脂肪肝。ACE 对 NAFLD 的适用性值得进一步研究。
