Department of Nutrition, Precision Nutrition Innovation Center, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
Nutrients. 2022 May 30;14(11):2303. doi: 10.3390/nu14112303.
Liver disease is a global health burden with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Liver injuries can develop into severe end-stage diseases, such as cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, without valid treatment. Therefore, identifying novel drugs may promote liver disease treatment. Phytochemicals, including polysaccharides, flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenes, are abundant in foods and medicinal plants and have various bioactivities, such as antioxidation, immunoregulation, and tumor killing. Recent studies have shown that many natural polysaccharides play protective roles in liver disease models in vitro and in vivo, such as fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, and liver cancer. The mechanisms of liver disease are complex. Notably, ferroptosis, a new type of cell death driven by iron and lipid peroxidation, is considered to be the key mechanism in many hepatic pathologies. Therefore, polysaccharides and other types of phytochemicals with activities in ferroptosis regulation provide novel therapeutic strategies for ferroptosis-related liver diseases. This review summarizes our current understanding of the mechanisms of ferroptosis and liver injury and compelling preclinical evidence of natural bioactive polysaccharides and phytochemicals in treating liver disease.
肝脏疾病是全球范围内的一个健康负担，具有高发病率和死亡率。如果没有有效的治疗方法，肝脏损伤可能会发展成严重的终末期疾病，如肝硬化或肝癌。因此，寻找新的药物可能会促进肝脏疾病的治疗。植物化学物质，包括多糖、类黄酮、生物碱和萜类化合物，在食物和药用植物中含量丰富，具有多种生物活性，如抗氧化、免疫调节和肿瘤杀伤。最近的研究表明，许多天然多糖在体外和体内的脂肪肝、酒精性肝病、药物性肝损伤和肝癌等肝脏疾病模型中发挥保护作用。肝脏疾病的发病机制复杂。值得注意的是，铁死亡，一种由铁和脂质过氧化驱动的新型细胞死亡，被认为是许多肝病理的关键机制。因此，具有铁死亡调节活性的多糖和其他类型的植物化学物质为铁死亡相关肝脏疾病提供了新的治疗策略。本综述总结了我们对铁死亡和肝损伤机制的现有认识，以及天然生物活性多糖和植物化学物质在治疗肝脏疾病方面的有说服力的临床前证据。
