Lu Hsu-Feng, Lai Yu-Heng, Huang Hsiu-Chen, Lee I-Jung, Lin Lie-Chwen, Liu Hui-Kang, Tien Hsiao-Hsuan, Huang Cheng
Departments of Clinical Pathology, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan.
J Ginseng Res. 2020 Mar;44(2):238-246. doi: 10.1016/j.jgr.2018.10.005. Epub 2018 Oct 27.
Dietary fat has been suggested to be the cause of various health issues. Obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and kidney disease are known to be associated with a high-fat diet (HFD). Obesity and associated conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), are currently a worldwide health problem. Few prospective pharmaceutical therapies that directly target NAFLD are available at present. A Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginseng-plus-Bai-Hu-Tang (GBHT), is widely used by diabetic patients to control glucose level or thirst. However, whether it has therapeutic effects on fat-induced hepatic steatosis and metabolic syndrome remains unclear.
This study was conducted to examine the therapeutic effect of GBHT on fat-induced obesity, hepatic steatosis, and insulin resistance in mice.
GBHT protected mice against HFD-induced body weight gain, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia compared with mice that were not treated. GBHT inhibited the expansion of adipose tissue and adipocyte hypertrophy. No ectopic fat deposition was found in the livers of HFD mice treated with GBHT. In addition, glucose intolerance and insulin sensitivity in HFD mice was also improved by GBHT.
GBHT prevents changes in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in a HFD mouse model. Our findings provide evidence for the traditional use of GBHT as therapy for the management of metabolic syndrome.
膳食脂肪被认为是各种健康问题的成因。肥胖、高血压、心血管疾病、糖尿病、血脂异常和肾脏疾病都与高脂饮食（HFD）有关。肥胖及其相关病症，如2型糖尿病和非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD），目前是一个全球性的健康问题。目前几乎没有直接针对NAFLD的前瞻性药物疗法。一种中药，人参白虎汤（GBHT），被糖尿病患者广泛用于控制血糖水平或口渴。然而，其对脂肪诱导的肝脂肪变性和代谢综合征是否具有治疗作用仍不清楚。
本研究旨在探讨GBHT对小鼠脂肪诱导的肥胖、肝脂肪变性和胰岛素抵抗的治疗效果。
与未治疗的小鼠相比，GBHT可保护小鼠免受HFD诱导的体重增加、高脂血症和高血糖影响。GBHT抑制脂肪组织扩张和脂肪细胞肥大。在用GBHT治疗的HFD小鼠肝脏中未发现异位脂肪沉积。此外，GBHT还改善了HFD小鼠的葡萄糖耐量和胰岛素敏感性。
GBHT可预防HFD小鼠模型中脂质和碳水化合物代谢的变化。我们的研究结果为GBHT传统上用于治疗代谢综合征提供了证据。
