Sun Xiaoyu, Ge Na, Liang Qingqing, Wang Qian, Yu Hui, Jin Min
The School of Public Health, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China.
The School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2025 May 15;16:1549515. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1549515. eCollection 2025.
Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a liver disease syndrome. The total flavonoids of Dracocephalum moldavica L. (D. moldavica), the main active components of D. moldavica, have been demonstrated not only to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects but also to regulate gut microbiota. However, the mechanism by which it improves MAFLD is unclear. So we want to investigate how the total flavonoids of D. moldavica alleviate high-fat diet (HFD)-induced MAFLD in rats.
Firstly, MAFLD rat models were established by feeding with HFD, while the total flavonoids of D. moldavica were administered via gavage. Then, the experiments analyzed the changes of gut microbiota by the 16S rRNA sequencing and detected intestinal barrier permeability and liver inflammation to explore the mechanism of the total flavonoids of D. moldavica in the prevention and treatment of MAFLD.
We found that the total flavonoids of D. moldavica reduced systemic inflammation and could alleviate serum and liver lipid metabolism disorders in MAFLD rats. The results of the 16S rRNA sequencing demonstrated that the total flavonoids of D. moldavica increased the abundance and diversity of gut microbiota. Furthermore, the total flavonoids of D. moldavica have been demonstrated to enhance the intestinal mucosal barrier function, reduce LPS translocation, and inhibit the activation of hepatic TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway. This could effectively ameliorate the hepatic lesions in MAFLD rats.
The aforementioned outcomes indicate that the total flavonoids ofD moldavica may potentially alleviate MAFLD by modulating gut microbiota, intestinal mucosal barrier and hepatic inflammation.
代谢相关脂肪性肝病（MAFLD）是一种肝脏疾病综合征。香青兰的主要活性成分香青兰总黄酮已被证明不仅具有抗炎和抗氧化作用，还能调节肠道微生物群。然而，其改善MAFLD的机制尚不清楚。因此，我们想研究香青兰总黄酮如何减轻高脂饮食（HFD）诱导的大鼠MAFLD。
首先，通过高脂饮食建立MAFLD大鼠模型，同时通过灌胃给予香青兰总黄酮。然后，实验通过16S rRNA测序分析肠道微生物群的变化，并检测肠道屏障通透性和肝脏炎症，以探讨香青兰总黄酮防治MAFLD的机制。
我们发现香青兰总黄酮可减轻全身炎症，并能缓解MAFLD大鼠的血清和肝脏脂质代谢紊乱。16S rRNA测序结果表明，香青兰总黄酮增加了肠道微生物群的丰度和多样性。此外，香青兰总黄酮已被证明可增强肠道黏膜屏障功能，减少LPS移位，并抑制肝脏TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB通路的激活。这可以有效改善MAFLD大鼠的肝脏病变。
上述结果表明，香青兰总黄酮可能通过调节肠道微生物群、肠道黏膜屏障和肝脏炎症来减轻MAFLD。
