Mousa Amria Mamdouh, Taher Rehab Fikry, El-Sammad Nermin Mohamed, Balabel Esraa Aly, Youssef Elham Mohamed, Afifi Ahmed Hassan, Abdel-Rahman Sahar Samir, Anwar Nayera, Hassan Sherien Kamal
Biochemistry Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
Chemistry of Natural Compounds Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2025 Jul 19;25(1):280. doi: 10.1186/s12906-025-05010-w.
The high prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) worldwide necessitates the attention and intervention of modern medical treatment options. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that Ficus Lyrata leaves can exert protective effects in rats against hepatic fibrosis and hypercholesterolemia. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the therapeutic effect of Ficus lyrata Wrab bark extract on the NAFLD rat model. NAFLD was induced through a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks in male Wistar rats. After four weeks of HFD feeding, the rats were treated with F. lyrata extract (250 mg/kg, 5 days/week) or simvastatin (4 mg/kg, 5 days/week) while continuing on the HFD till the end of the experiment. Serum and liver samples were harvested for biochemical, molecular, histopathological, and immunohistochemical investigations. In silico analysis was also conducted to analyse the binding affinity of the extract polyphenols and the key regulators of hepatic lipogenesis. The results revealed that F. lyrata extract administered to HFD-fed rats significantly improved the characteristics of NAFLD by reducing hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and aminotransferases while improving serum lipid profile and adipokines. Moreover, the extract reduced the expression of hepatic lipogenic genes sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1 (ACC-1), and fatty acid synthase (FAS), and inflammatory markers tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), along with modulating oxidative stress markers and reversing histopathological changes. Molecular docking study revealed that most polyphenolic compounds in F. lyrata extract exhibited good binding affinity towards peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors γ (PPAR-γ) and liver X receptor α (LXR-α). In conclusion, our findings suggested that F. lyrata bark could be a promising therapeutic agent against the health issues related to NAFLD.
非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）在全球的高患病率使得现代医学治疗方案的关注和干预成为必要。初步研究表明，琴叶榕叶对大鼠肝纤维化和高胆固醇血症具有保护作用。因此，本研究旨在探讨琴叶榕树皮提取物对NAFLD大鼠模型的治疗效果。通过对雄性Wistar大鼠进行12周的高脂饮食（HFD）诱导NAFLD。在高脂饮食喂养4周后，大鼠接受琴叶榕提取物（250mg/kg，每周5天）或辛伐他汀（4mg/kg，每周5天）治疗，同时继续高脂饮食直至实验结束。采集血清和肝脏样本进行生化、分子、组织病理学和免疫组织化学研究。还进行了计算机模拟分析，以分析提取物多酚与肝脏脂肪生成关键调节因子的结合亲和力。结果显示，给予高脂饮食喂养大鼠的琴叶榕提取物通过降低高血糖、高胰岛素血症和转氨酶，同时改善血脂谱和脂肪因子，显著改善了NAFLD的特征。此外，该提取物降低了肝脏脂肪生成基因固醇调节元件结合蛋白-1c（SREBP-1c）、乙酰辅酶A羧化酶-1（ACC-1）和脂肪酸合酶（FAS）的表达，以及炎症标志物肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）和白细胞介素-6（IL-6），同时调节氧化应激标志物并逆转组织病理学变化。分子对接研究表明，琴叶榕提取物中的大多数多酚化合物对过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体γ（PPAR-γ）和肝脏X受体α（LXR-α）表现出良好的结合亲和力。总之，我们的研究结果表明，琴叶榕树皮可能是一种有前途的治疗剂，可应对与NAFLD相关的健康问题。
