Deng Zhenhan, Gao Shanshan, An Yunfei, Huang Yong, Liu Haifeng, Zhu Weimin, Lu Wei, He Miao, Xie Wenqing, Yu Dengjie, Li Yusheng
Department of Sports Medicine, Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital/the First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen, China.
Department of Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Ann Transl Med. 2021 Feb;9(4):292. doi: 10.21037/atm-20-5362.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), characterized by the accumulation of excess fat in the liver in people who consume little or no alcohol, is becoming increasingly common around the world, especially in developed countries. Extracts from earthworms have been used as alternative therapies for a variety of diseases but not in NAFLD. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of earthworm extract (EE) on diet-induced fatty liver disease in guinea pigs.
EE was extracted, and the effect of EE on the lipid levels and liver damage in guinea pigs fed a high-fat diet (HFD) was assessed. Thirty male guinea pigs at 3 weeks of age were allocated equally to five groups, namely, chow diet, HFD, and HFD with different dosages (0.3, 1.4 and 6.8 µg per kg bodyweight per day) of EE for 4 weeks, and their body weight was monitored throughout the experiment. Liver tissues were examined for gross morphology and histology. Serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were determined using an autoanalyser.
HFD induced NAFLD in guinea pigs. HFD-fed guinea pigs that received EE treatment showed milder increases in the serum levels of TC, TG and LDL-C, as well as in the body weight growth rate, compared to the HFD group without EE supplementation. EE intervention reduced the number of lipid-containing hepatocytes, hepatocellular ballooning and sinusoidal distortion in the liver in HFD-fed animals. ALT in serum was significantly elevated by HFD. No statistically significant difference in ALT levels was found between the chow diet group and the HFD group with EE treatment.
This study demonstrates that the administration of EE suppressed the induction of serum TC, TG and LDL-C in response to HFD. EE also reduced liver damage in HFD-fed guinea pigs. These findings suggest that EE has alleviating effects on dyslipidaemia and liver damage associated with NAFLD.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）的特征是在很少饮酒或不饮酒的人群中肝脏出现过量脂肪堆积，在全球范围内，尤其是在发达国家，这种疾病正变得越来越普遍。蚯蚓提取物已被用作多种疾病的替代疗法，但尚未用于非酒精性脂肪性肝病的治疗。因此，本研究的目的是探讨蚯蚓提取物（EE）对饮食诱导的豚鼠脂肪肝疾病的影响。
提取EE，并评估其对高脂饮食（HFD）喂养的豚鼠血脂水平和肝损伤的影响。将30只3周龄的雄性豚鼠平均分为五组，即普通饮食组、高脂饮食组以及高脂饮食分别添加不同剂量（每天每千克体重0.3、1.4和6.8微克）EE的组，持续4周，并在整个实验过程中监测它们的体重。对肝脏组织进行大体形态学和组织学检查。使用自动分析仪测定血清总胆固醇（TC）、甘油三酯（TG）、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）、丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）和天冬氨酸转氨酶（AST）水平。
高脂饮食诱导豚鼠出现非酒精性脂肪性肝病。与未补充EE的高脂饮食组相比，接受EE治疗的高脂饮食喂养的豚鼠血清TC、TG和LDL-C水平以及体重增长率的升高幅度较小。EE干预减少了高脂饮食喂养动物肝脏中含脂肝细胞的数量、肝细胞气球样变和肝血窦扭曲。高脂饮食显著升高血清ALT水平。普通饮食组与接受EE治疗的高脂饮食组之间的ALT水平无统计学显著差异。
本研究表明，给予EE可抑制高脂饮食引起的血清TC、TG和LDL-C升高。EE还减轻了高脂饮食喂养的豚鼠的肝损伤。这些发现表明，EE对与非酒精性脂肪性肝病相关的血脂异常和肝损伤具有缓解作用。
